Undead Secrets
by BitterIcing
Summary: Alternate Universe. Neville is the Boy Who Lived. So what does that make Harry Potter? Just a shy unpopular kid right? No, nobody could have imagined just how wrong they were. Secrets and Lies, Truth and Protection. Welcome to the War.
1. A Short Introduction

Undead Secrets

A/N: Okay people, here is the new and improved Chapter 1, much better if I do say so myself!

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own a thing.

Chapter 1: A Short Introduction

September 1st, 1997

The weather was muggy at best. The sun tried shining through the haze over the city. Part of it got through and part of it didn't. It did make for a hot day. Coupled with the Atlantic humidity that was a constant presence, the day was a typical one for England. A very warm, almost hot day that promised a cool night later on when the sun said "see ya later" to the Greenwich Time Zone and went in search of another continent to blister with some cosmic plasma.

Harry sat in his usual compartment on the Hogwarts Express. It was the second to last car on the train. It was the second to last compartment. For some reason he had always felt it was _his_ compartment.

He sat alone.

Always alone.

Every year had been the same. People never really got around to talking to him. Not on the train, not at Hogwarts. Even the trolley lady skipped him by.

Harry figured it was due to him being a little weird.

Unique might be a better word.

Unique... phttt. More like a freak of nature. He was different.

And he knew it. He had been just seven years old when something happened to him after all – something big.

Something that caused him to be unique in the world.

Unique and alone.

Harry sat in his seat looking out the window of the train as it sat waiting patiently for the students to board. Last minute hugs and kisses from parents to nervous younger students could be seen everywhere. Harry had long ago stopped longing for that sensation. It didn't help his frame of mind when the emotions associated with that longing caught up to his cranium from his heart. But, still, intellectually, he did wonder what it was like.

Harry thought back over his life. Harry was just a little one year old when he lost his parents. He heard it had taken over 12 Death Eaters to take them down; a fact that made Harry sad and a little proud at the same time. Proud to know that his parents had taken those that came after them down while protecting him, essentially giving their lives so he would live. Sad because they were gone. The ones who would have probably loved him the most in his life were gone. Just because some sick bastard had dreams of becoming an Evil Overlord.

With no other relatives to go to, Harry was shuffled around for a few days to various other families who decided they didn't need a fosterling and he was eventually stuffed into some old orphanage and forgotten. Well he couldn't really blame them – he was sort of forgettable. He could never really figure out why probably something to do with the fact that he tried to make himself invisible. Harry never knew for sure if he'd seen the Death Eaters attack his parents or not, but he suspected he had and it had left an impression in his mind. Hide. Scrunch down. Keep still. Survive.

Actually, that wasn't entirely true. He had found out several years ago that he did indeed have relatives he could have gone to. His mother's sister, her husband, and her three kids – Dudley, Doris, and David. Harry had wanted to meet them one day and did a quick reconnaissance of the place. It was ordinary. Completely ordinary. All of the family but the mother had a problem with weight control and apparently the old man had temper issues as he occasionally swatted one of his kids for not mowing the lawn faster. They should try a page out of his life – being pursued all the time was a great cardiovascular workout. Harry wasn't so sure if he'd been better off going to the orphanage than with living with him. Both locations offered unique challenges – and he wasn't sure dying from child abuse was the better option. Close, but not preferable.

Harry had found them through some snooping of old orphanage records when he'd looked for information on his parents. He'd found a memo written by a case worker saying that the Dursley's had flat out refused to allow a "freak like him" into their house. That had been the last stop before the orphanage.

Harry pretty much grew up in this orphanage; sure he went to different foster parents and homes, but for some reason they never worked out and he would always end up back at the same old orphanage. By the time he was seven he had already been through seven different foster families. Lucky seven. The magic number. Oh the irony. See it was that night, the night of his seventh birthday, July 31st, that everything took a turn for the worse. When Harry looked back on that night he wondered what his life would have turned out like if he had not run away from the orphanage. But be that as it may, he had still run away and that was ultimately the _biggest_ mistake of his entire life. It wasn't the fact that he had run away it was what happened later that night.

He was attacked by a vampire.

It had started with the sound of a crow. The "Caw! Caw!" sound it made in the middle of the night. To a scared young boy who was hiding behind some trash cans in an alley, it was a terrifying sound. He'd noticed it was near midnight from a clock he'd seen on a building. The night had gotten quieter if that was possible. The insects had stopped making noise.

The wind had died down.

Harry tried to control his breathing, but he was nearly hyperventilating as he moved to peek around the trashcan to get a better view of the alley entrance. It was a warm night, but not overly so. Still, Harry was sweating from the fear in his stomach. A sensation told him to hide. Scrunch down. Keep still. Survive.

Sadly, it wasn't enough and a hand grabbed him around the shoulder and turned him around, pushing him up against a wall.

A man looked down on him.

A terrifying man.

"Hello, Harry," he grinned, Harry recalled. Then his incisors got longer and longer. "I've been looking for you. You did a good job running away."

He grinned and then bit Harry on the neck, piercing the jugular and began drinking.

Harry shook the vision out of his eyes. The train was starting to move.

It had taken time, Harry recalled, but he eventually found out who had bit him. Or who he suspected had bit him. It was the Crow. He'd heard that the vamp had some sort of sick pleasure in turning kids.

And hey, maybe Harry's life wouldn't be such a hellhole if he had actually turned.

Yeah. Right.

The vamp had tried to turn him but something happened to stop it and now he was stuck as some sort of human-vampire hybrid. He was still human in the one most important thing he could have – he still had his soul. So, yes, he still counted himself as human. But he was also imbued with many vampire abilities and that was just not normal. Even for wizards.

Mostly, Harry counted these as benefits. No, he didn't burst into flame at the first touch of sunlight, in fact he enjoyed being out during the day – within moderation. Harry preferred the dark as it was easier on his eyes and gave him fewer headaches. But he enjoyed the time a few years ago when he made his way to a beach and saw his first bikini. He could get to like that more.

Too bad he hadn't joined the sunbathers. But if he stayed under the sun for too long he would start getting a headache. The stronger the sunlight, the stronger the headache until it hit migraine proportions.

Plus, the pigmentation on his skin more resembled that of the chalky white of a vamp than that of a human. But that could have just been a British thing too, Harry smirked thinking back to his earlier years when he'd seen other boys in the communal shower his schoolmates shared.

No, Harry had no need for blood, nor did he like the taste and go lusting after it every second of the day. That detriment was reserved for those that had turned, thank god.

Yes, he got the strength and speed of a vampire. Okay so maybe he wasn't as fast or as strong but put it this way: he was abnormally so for a human. Probably closer to werewolf than vampire. That was only because the neurons were still firing up and down his body unlike the deadheads.

And yes he had the whole night-vision thing going on. The only problem with it was that his freaking eyes glowed in the dark which posed a little problem when he was at school. Fortunately, they only glowed in absolute darkness; when he still had nighttime light from stars or the moon, his eyes for the most part stayed normal. He got the night-vision benefit from then at that time, just that they didn't glow. It was freaky the first time he saw it happen in a darkened bathroom and noticed himself in the mirror.

That whole deal would be kind of hard to explain if somebody saw him at night, or even when the Hogwarts Express when through a dark tunnel, so he wore dark shades whenever he wasn't in class. Even at night. The few times someone had looked like they wanted to ask him why he wore them, he simply said, "Sensitive eyes," and left it at that. Nothing more ever came from it.

Harry liked having these advantages, as he liked to call them. There was just one tiny little problem with it all.

The entire Vampire community wanted him dead.

They were a bunch of wankers, no two ways around it.

Unfortunately, the entire two months he was not in school was spent fighting for his life. Either that or hiding which didn't go over too well since they usually found him anyway. Bastards.

If Harry was ever asked if he would give it all up he would say: "Hell yes" in a second but since that wasn't possible he had to live with it or die by it whichever way you looked at it.

Hogwarts was Harry's home; it was a place he could feel safe and somewhat normal. True, he was different, but then again so were all the kids he was going to classes with.

When he turned eleven and got his letter, Harry had felt something that he hadn't for a long time: happiness. He was happy that he might be spending time with people like him. He wouldn't be alone any longer.

At the age of seven he was forced to grow up and fast. So yeah, Hogwarts was his haven …but that never stopped him from sneaking out on weekends and, to be honest, he was a bit of a daredevil. Well, he hadn't started out that way, but events necessitated that he become one. He liked to test his limits. He speculated that he might have had a death wish, and if that were the case, if he was going to die he was not going to go out peacefully.

But the strangest thing was: nobody knew about it, not even Headmaster Dumbledore. Which was surprising as supposedly nothing got by that man. Well it was possible because he had the whole Voldemort problem to deal with and not to mention his favourite students.

The golden trio.

Dumbledore's attention was mostly on them: Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and the boy-who-lived himself, Neville Longbottom. The school's most well known students. Every student in the school knew their names, whispered about them in the hallways, some even stared on in awe. It was kind of pathetic really. But to their credit they never let all the attention go to their heads. They seemed nice enough.

Even though they didn't talk with him. It wasn't a big deal. Nobody talked with him. Not even the professors.

Harry James Potter.

What did anybody know of him, he wondered.

Nobody really new his name, nobody really talked to him, which suited him just fine. This way there was a lesser chance of his secret getting out.

And get out it would one day, he knew.

And when it did, it would only be a matter of time before he was locked up and studied. Or locked up, and cut open to see how he worked in the greater good for the magical community. God only knows if they'd bother to put him back together again.

Lousy healers and their hypocritical oath

No, that wouldn't do at all. It was better to be alone, to be invisible. To be alive. Surviving.

Little did Harry know that his life was yet again about to take another dramatic turn.

The train built up speed as it headed out of London for the long trek up to Scotland.

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This idea has been stuck in my head for a while now so I thought I would write it down and get it out of this mixed up brain of mine.

Peace\\//


	2. A Long Ride Home

Undead Secrets 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

A/N: Here it is, the revised chapter 2, has you can tell more has been added to it, some facts changed and what not.

Chapter 2: A Long Ride Home

-o0o-

"Ughh... I can't believe we almost missed the train," a very flustered Ron Weasley stated while trying to keep his balance in the narrow hallway of the Hogwarts Express. The train's cars shifted every few seconds as trains normally did.

He was flanked by his usual friends, Hermione and Neville. He and Neville had waited for Hermione before actually boarding the train that would take them to Hogwarts. She had been dreadfully late and the trio had rushed to get on the train as the whistle blew and steam started to billow out of the engine.

So now the three of them tried in vain to find an empty compartment to sit in, all the while having to keep their balance on the moving train with their trunks in tow.

"I'm really sorry, I completely lost track of the time, and the traffic on the way here was horrid," replied a just as flustered Hermione.

Over the years the small bushy haired girl had slowly but surely started to turn into a beautiful young woman. She had filled out in the right places, grew to the height of 5'4 making most of the boys in school look at her in a new way, much to the annoyance of a certain redhead. Her once embarrassing bushy hair finally lost most of its frizz and gained more of an elegant curl to it. Said hair was now tied in a loose ponytail with shorter pieces falling down over her honey brown eyes.

"Do either of you notice that there are a lot more first years this year?" asked Neville as he peered into the compartments they were passing. But at the questioning look he got from his friends he continued "I just mean that with Voldemort... I just thought there would be less..." he trailed of tying not to look sheepish, which effectively made him look more boyish.

Hermione suspected that he would have that quality for a very long time. He had brown hair that always seemed to look wind blown and his lithe frame made him look a just little bit scrawny and with his slightly boyish features it would have made him seem younger than 17 years he was if it wasn't for his tall stature. He stood at 5'11 which was still only 2-inches shorter then Ron's gangly frame.

Hermione looked at Ron then and had to appreciate the man he was becoming. In contrast to Neville's boyish appearance Ron had chiseled features and had grown out of his awkward stage that he had been stuck in for the last six years. He had grown out his red hair so it now hung low over his hazel eyes, with a slight curl at the ends.

She couldn't seem to stop the small blush that formed around her cheeks had Ron turned his head and caught her looking at him. But his eyes quickly moved and flicked over to Neville.

"Yea it does seem kind of odd."

"Oh please you two, parents are probably sending their kids to Hogwarts because, despite past instances, it is still the safest place from Voldemort," Hermione said as she glanced at her two best friends before continuing searching with a grin and a shake of her head.

-o0o-

"Well, well, if it isn't the Gryffindorks themselves."

"Drop dead, Malfoy," Ron bit back, elbowing past the pasty-faced blonde.

"Still looking for a place to sit down? Can it be your precious seats have been taken up by some other mudblood first years? You know, Lardbottom, you could always just chuck them off the train and take their seats for yourself. Oh wait, your precious morals won't let you do that, will they? Such a waste, those morals. Kind of like you're a waste as a wizard."

Neville clamped down the retort he was going to make as other cabin doors opened and younger heads popped out to get a look at them. "Is that the best insult you can make, Malfoy? My, you certainly aren't getting any mileage out from your death eater training, are you? I'd sack whoever is giving you your lessons and find someone more competent. Oh, wait, it's your father training you isn't it?"

Ron chimed in, "Tsk, tsk. Either he's terrible at training you, or you're just too stupid to pick up on it. So which is it, Malfoy? You stupid or is your father stupid?"

Draco, now hot under the collar, seethed for a few moments before getting his composure back. This gave the trio ample time to move past his compartment.

As a parting shot to them, he said loudly, "I'll make sure to let the prefects know you'll be late, mudblood, because you were too lazy to find a cabin before the train started moving. Ah-ah, Weasel, try anything and I might have to take points off."

Ron, Hermione, and Neville continued on, keeping a close eye to their backs. There was just no trusting a Malfoy. At least, none of them had ever found a reason to. And Neville suspected they never would. Useless waste of skin.

-o0o-

It took another five minutes before they found a compartment with enough room for all three of them to fit into. It was in the second to last car and was the second to last compartment. Inside was a boy staring out the window, silently watching the landscape rush by.

Curious. He was wearing sunglasses. Hermione hadn't noticed anyone else wearing them, at least after they'd boarded the train.

"Who is that?" Ron asked at he looked through the glass and into the compartment that held the lone boy.

All three friends couldn't get a good enough look at the boy to see who it was despite the fact that no shades had been pulled. They looked at this face and saw a profile, but just couldn't seem to make out who it was. Even though he was looking out the window, Neville thought he should have been able to recognize him.

Still, there was a pang of familiarity that made the trio think they should know the stranger somehow.

"Well he isn't a first year that's for sure; might be in Hufflepuff..." piped up Neville as he was trying to get a better look, blushing a little when he thought about what the three of them must look like, noses almost pressed up against the glass. The boy had black spiky hair, and was wearing a dark grey hoody with faded blue jeans, but that was all he could make out. If he would just turn his head a little bit then maybe he could get a better guess as to who this stranger was.

"Maybe he's a transfer student!" Ron exclaimed.

"Don't be stupid, there hasn't been any transfer student in ages. Besides who in their right mind would transfer their kid to a place that's on the brink of war?" Hermione said not taking her eyes of the strange kid.

Just when Ron was about to snap back at Hermione, the person they were so intently staring at turned his head and leaned back in his seat, hands deep in his hoody's pockets, so he was starring blankly at the opposite wall. Hermione thought he must have been lost in his thoughts not to detect their presence. They were practically fogging up the window what with their faces plastered up as close as they were.

She noted that the boy looked extremely weary and gave a heavy sigh much like the trio had watched professor Dumbledore do time and again. Of course, those times had been when he was dealing with the two jokers. Or when Neville had beaten off a dark lord attack.

Now that they could see him from a better angle, Ron could tell he was definitely familiar. This new view gave them a better idea of what he looked like. The thing that struck out the most though, was the glint of the silver hoop that was pierced though the stranger's right eyebrow.

Ron gasped in recognition. Both Neville and Hermione looked at him in question.

"Oh... oh I know who he is! God, what's his name? He's in our year. Come on help me out here Neville," exclaimed Ron as a frown marred his face. He had seen this guy before but couldn't for the life of him remember the name that went to the face. He looked over at Neville to see if he at least knew the name only to see that he was just as stumped as he, Ron was.

"He's a Gryffindor? How come I never seen him before?" questioned Hermione while she concentrated on thinking of all the Gryffindors, she was head girl after all.

The boy in the compartment still had yet to notice their presence.

"Urhg... He's like a ghost. He even sleeps in our dorm for Merlin's sake! His name's on the tip of my tongue. P... Pat... No... Prest… No… Potter! That's it!" Neville said snapping his fingers as he said the name.

"Yeah that's it! Henry… uh… Harry, Harry Potter!" Ron cried. None of them even noticed that their hushed whispered conversation was slowly getting louder and louder with each word. And when Ron practically yelled the name out it finally caught the attention of one Harry Potter who tensed up and turned his head and looked out at them. The only sign of surprise he showed was the slight widening of his vivid green eyes before he looked at all three of them with a quirked eyebrow.

-o0o-

None of the teachers really knew him, that's for certain, Harry mused. Not the headmaster, the charms teacher, not even the potions instructor. Although, Harry was certain that at one point he had wanted to question Harry about something but then must've thought better and promptly ignored him. That had been in his first year and he showed no signs of stopping the ignore-contest. It's not that it bothered Harry.

But what really surprised Harry was his third year defense teacher: Remus Lupin. Sure, he was a werewolf and his kind didn't like vamps at all, in fact they were diametrically opposed to vamps in every way possible, but Harry was sure Lupin had liked Harry. That he'd noticed Harry in some way. He wasn't certain how. Harry had managed to avoid the man the entire year. No sense getting a werewolf bashing if he could avoid it. Living he still might be, but he was sure to carry some small stench of vamp on him.

And he was certain that if the werewolf had caught that smell there might have been some serious questions to answer when he beat the werewolf up. Fortunately he'd stayed well away from the man other than in class. One plus of being the "forgotten student" was that he'd never been assigned a punishment in the entire time he'd gone to Hogwarts. Not like the Golden Trio. Heh-heh, they'd had their hands full over the years, that's for certain.

And some of their punishments had been downright dangerous. Going to the forbidden forest, at night no less when the more predatory creatures were awake and hunting, getting hands carved up by that Umbridge ministry stooge. Cleaning cauldrons for Snape. That might not sound so bad but Harry knew better. Some of those cauldrons contained so many mixed chemicals they could be considered toxic by most officials on North America. Guess it was a good thing they were in England then. Easier to pour the contents down the drains and into the lake by the castle.

"…Potter! That's it!"

Harry was so lost in his depressing thoughts that he never noticed three people stop just outside "his" compartment nor did he hear their hushed conversation …apparently about him. That was unlike him. Usually he could hear that stuff in his sleep. That was until somebody had cried out his name.

He immediately tensed up… then reminded himself it was the middle of the day and he was on the train going to Hogwarts. He kept his body tense as he turned his head to look at who had yelled his name. His eyes widened a little as he saw the three very people his thoughts had trailed off on.

Harry ran his eyes past all three of them then lifted one eyebrow marginally in amusement as they all straightened themselves out with blushes on their faces.

They look ashamed, Harry thought.

Probably because they were just talking about you, another voice thought sarcastically in a sort of "duh!" voice.

Harry shook his head before he could start an argument with himself, one he'd surely lose and win at the same time, and concentrated on what was going on around him.

The door slid open and Hermione stuck her head in.

"Um... Sorry to bother you but do you think with could sit with you?" she asked fidgeting with the small door knob. She didn't really seem to be able to make eye contact with him.

Harry froze. _They want to sit with me? Wait that can't be right..._

When she seen that he looked completely taken aback, she elaborated "It's just umm... everywhere else is sort of full," she finished with a small shrug.

Ohh I get it now.

"Yah," Harry cleared his throat. "Sure," he nodded his head catching the relived look on her face before she opened the door fully and dragging her trunk in. After her came Neville and then Ron.

When they finally got their trunks all stored away and were sitting comfortably they all looked around awkwardly. By this time Harry had pulled out a book but he could tell that each of them were silently fighting over who should say something first.

Harry let out a small sigh. Yup, this was going to be the longest train ride he had ever been on.

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Reviews are very welcome :)

Hope you like it

Peace\\//


	3. A Bad Day to Think

Undead Secrets

Disclaimer: Y'all know what I'm gonna write here, dont own anything yadda yadda yadda...

A/N: Alright, so nothing too big was changed in this chapter, just cleaned things up a bit. Anyway, hope you guys like it.

Chapter 3: A Bad Day to Think

-o0o-

Harry laid his head back into the fluffy pillows of his bed, savoring the downy softness and immediate comfort that swept through his tense muscles all the way down to his toes. The day had been way too long for his liking. Ever since he got off the train, all he wanted to do was crawl into his bed.

Merlin, how he had missed this bed, he grinned at its smoothness. It was a great improvement from the any of the lumpy flat mattresses that he had slept on in dirty run down apartments.

He was planning on skipping dinner anyway, and he would've too if it wasn't for three certain Gryffindors who had invited him along. Well, not so much invited as inquired where he was going when he didn't turn the same way to go into the Great Hall as they were headed. That made Harry stop in his tracks and look at them weirdly. Never had anybody, not in his entire time he spent at Hogwarts, asked about where he was going. He was so bewildered that he didn't even realize that his legs started moving on their own accord until he was sitting in the Great Hall beside Hermione.

Thus began a very long and very boring evening.

Flashback – Back on the train

As it turned out Ron was the poor bloke that lost the silent debate over who should say something first.

"So…" he started clearing his throat. "You're Harry right?"

Harry just looked over at him with a complete 'Are you kidding me?' look.

'Jeez,' Harry thought. 'You sleep in the same dorm as me for almost over six years and you can't even remember my name?'

'You should be used to it by now,' another voice in the back of his head said.

'Well that doesn't stop it from at least hurting a little bit.'

'Crybaby.'

Harry shook his head to snap himself out of the mental argument. He really shouldn't spend so much time alone. It couldn't be good if he was arguing with himself.

"Right... um sorry," Ron replied clearing his throat several times, and squirming in his seat with down right embarrassment, for lack of a better word.

Harry sighed taking pity on him "S'alright I have that effect on everybody I meet, I'm kinda forgettable," he replied with a hint of sadness and a small smile as he watched Ron's completely red face ever so slowly start receding back to its normal colour.

He did however miss the look that Hermione and Neville shared before he went back to his book. For having heightened senses Harry could be blissfully ignorant sometimes.

End Flashback

It was completely and utterly weird. Harry really didn't know what to make of it really, and it left him completely baffled as to what he was supposed to do about it.

Ron, Neville and Hermione had actually acknowledged his presence all night. But the funny thing was it gave him a really odd feeling that sent a tingling sensation all over his body. The good kind though, not the kind that happened every time a vampire was close by, leaving the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up and nudging his heightened senses to kick in.

No, he liked this new feeling, Harry decided. And with that thought he closed his eyes and fell into a much welcomed sleep.

-o0o-

Meanwhile down in the common room three students lounged awake discussing a special someone.

"God, he must hate us," Neville stated, slumping back in one of the big chairs situated around the fireplace. Across from him sat Ron and sitting cross legged on the floor was Hermione.

"Yeah, did you see the way he looked when we asked where he was going?" Ron added as he too looked a little ashamed.

"I don't think he hates us you guys," said Hermione. She had that faraway look in her eyes like when she was thinking really hard or trying to solve some mystery or other. Ron and Neville had seen that look plenty of times and silently agreed to wait for her to elaborate. They both found out the hard way what could happen if they interrupted her in one of her states, as they liked to call it, and it wasn't pretty.

It was a good couple of minutes before Hermione huffed. "Aren't either of you going to ask me why I don't think he hates us?" she said, looking at both boys with feigned annoyance.

Both Ron and Neville shared bemused expressions before looking back at her with confusion, but Neville thought he saw a hint of amusement in her eyes. "err... Right... Well why then?" he asked downright perplexed.

Hermione jumped up from her spot on the floor and started pacing. "Well come on you guys," she said pointedly looking each boy in the eye. "You've seen the look in his eyes, he wasn't mad, he seemed... confused to me," silence hung at her statement.

"What look in what eyes?" Ron said, clearly confused. "He was wearing those dark glasses the entire time."

"Actually," Hermione remembered, "he did take them off for a few minutes during dinner. He started cleaning each lens and I recall him looking around at that time. By the way, he has green eyes."

"We're getting off track here, people," Neville put in.

"Okay. Green eyes; got it. But..." Ron hesitated before continuing, "Why would he be confused about us asking where he was going? I mean he's got to have friends right, like in different houses maybe?" He was hoping he was right.

"I don't think so, Ron," Neville said quietly as he stared at the fire. "You heard what he said on the train, we all did. 'I'm kinda forgettable.' That's got to mean something."

It was a decent five minutes before anyone spoke up again.

"How could we have just ignored him for the past six years?" Hermione said, sadness lacing her voice. She knew it was somewhat of a rhetorical question but she had to say it out loud. Maybe just for the sake of admitting it to herself. In truth she felt truly ashamed of herself and if the looks were anything to go by so where Ron and Neville.

Neville cleared his throat. "Well to be fair we didn't exactly ignore him, we have kind of been caught up in our own messes every year."

"Hey, yeah, that's true," Ron visibly brightened at that thought.

"Still, I think we should at least try and make up for it, even if we have excuses." She looked at both of them, a big smile plastered on her face. "Let's make him our friend"

Neville looked over at Ron to see that he too had a smile on his face, but the more he thought about it the more he was feeling like something was off. Sure Harry seemed like the shy withdrawn kid that nobody talked to, but there was just something about him he couldn't quite put his finger on. It was the way he held him self, like at dinner tonight, whenever one of them talked to Harry he would noticeably tense up like someone was going to attack him. Maybe he came from an abusive home; yeah, that made sense. So with a smile he turned back to his friends. This could work out.

-o0o-

The atmosphere was eerily quiet as Harry rolled out of bed. It was a little after five in the morning. He learned early on that he never really needed all that much sleep. He could probably go for about 50 hours without it before being considered 'dead on his feet'. Which was normally a good thing but what little sleep he did get during the holiday was during the day so it was going to take a while to get back into the whole go to sleep at night thing.

A crow somewhere on the grounds let out a menacing caw. Harry cringed, he hated crows, they were so bloody… creepy, that and the fact that they were never really bearers of good news. Always hanging around the dead with a look that just said 'I know exactly what happened but I ain't telling'. If anything crows were Harry's greatest fear.

Flashback

Harry was only nine years old when he saw somebody get murdered for the first time. A real human being. Innocent.

And it wouldn't be the last.

He was in a small village closer to Bath than anywhere when it happened. He was not exactly the picture of innocence that most children are. He was dirty, clothes worn out with a hoody that was five times too big for him. There was dried up blood on the side of his face from a cut that long since closed up by his temple. His shoulder length black hair was knotted and falling down over his eyes.

Two days ago he would have looked a lot better, maybe a little worse for wear, but a lot better… but they were following him. He knew it. They had finally got his scent, and once they got it they don't lose it. So in vain Harry ran, for two days straight he ran, trying to lose them. He didn't want to fight, he never wanted to fight.

What he had to do now was stop; he needed food and sleep dreadfully. His strength was slowly dwindling and with his life that was by no means a good thing. He looked up at the church in middle of the town, standing tall and imposing. It was an old Catholic church with gargoyles standing guard at the four corners of the building. It was intimidating to say the least, he reckoned. Harry looked up and the slim tower protruding from the top and gazed at the large clock situated there. It was about midday, he had time for a bite to eat, then squeeze in a couple hours of sleep before night fell.

o0o

With a gasp Harry shot up from the bench he had laid down on. He had beads of sweat falling down his forehead and looked pale under the street lamp.

Oh no.

With wide eyes he looked around, the sun had gone down. He hadn't meant to fall asleep for so long.

Suddenly he realized what had woken him up.

They were here.

No that wasn't possible he had to be at least a day ahead of the pack that was tracking him. Panic briefly overtook him. Forcing himself to calm down, now was not the time to panic, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again his eyes were shining in the darkness more or less catlike. Scanning the area, eyes flicking from tree to tree, he saw no immediate danger but the hair raised on the back of his neck telling him different.

Then he heard it. No, it wasn't a vampire, but a scream of a child, the frightened yell only a petite girl could carry. He was up in a second and running towards the direction the yell came from. He turned the corner of a barber shop and stopped dead in his tracks.

There about eight meters parallel to him was a man dressed in all black, eyes tinted red, in stark contrast to his milky white skin. Vampire. There was a smirk plastered on his face showing off his deadly fangs. By his side was a terrified little girl. She couldn't be over 5 or 6 years old. Her dirty blonde hair in messy pig tails, her striking blue eyes large with dread letting tears fall uninterrupted. The vampire had a long pale hand wrapped around her tiny throat, long fingernails digging into her delicate skin.

He was looking directly at Harry, one delicate eyebrow raised. He still didn't look away from Harry as he raised the child a foot clear off the ground. She let out a strangled sob while she clawed helplessly at her attacker's hand and arm.

Harry wanted to cry out, but was frozen in shock and fear.

He recognized this vampire. It was the one who had attacked him several years earlier.

And now he was about to do the same thing to this little girl.

"Oh, no, little Harry," the vampire grinned at him while effortlessly holding the struggling girl. "I won't do the same thing to her as I did to you. She won't end up an aberration. She'll just be dead which is what all food is supposed to be when our kind is done with it."

Rooted to the spot he couldn't do anything but watch the scene before him. The little girl looked at him, right in the eyes, wordlessly pleading to help her, for anyone to help her. But he couldn't move, his mind was working in slow motion and his body wouldn't move either way. Then with one fluid motion the vampire snapped her neck, letting the child's body fall to the ground unceremoniously. He smiled victoriously at Harry prior to melding into the shadows and disappearing not a further word or sound uttered.

She died looking at him. Her dead eyes still looked at him. It felt like and eternity and more as Harry just stared back. Legs moving on their own accord, he knelt down by the small girl, dress now tarnished crimson red with the small trickle of blood that had come out of her mouth and from various scratches. With a small shaking hand he slowly and noiselessly he used two pale fingers and closed her now lifeless blue eyes. Her face looked so surreal, oddly calm. Her tanned skin made pale by the glowing moonlight.

And he just sat there for god knows how long, looking at the tiny now deceased girl, before and ominous caw shattered the trance like state he was in.

Harry blinked and looked up. There it was, the source of the noise, it was stood out in the darkness highlighted by the small supply of light the moon offered, a crow. With its small head tilted to one side it looked at him with black beady eyes, almost as if he was waiting for a reaction. But there was laughter in those eyes. Harry could see it loud and clear almost as if he could actually hear the laughter and that laughter was directed right at him.

It scared him, more then any vampire ever could.

There was a sound not to far away, a muffled yell that made the crow take flight. Harry jumped up and followed the bird with his head until it was out of sight.

Another yell, this time closer made Harry realize, like a wave crashing over top of him, the severity of the situation. He took one last look at the poor girl before taking off. As the darkness engulfed his small form he never once looked back. Not once. He only hoped the other vamps would stop for the human-snack left behind before coming after him again. Tears rolled off his cheeks as he ran as fast and hard as he could go not once stopping. Not once.

That was the last time Harry ever cried.

All he could hear was laughter within his head. Laughter that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

End Flashback

Harry raked a hand through his hair. Why was his life so screwed up? No nine-year-old should ever have to go through any of things he was forced to endure at that age. It only got worse the older he became. But it was that night, the night that innocent child died in front of him, that he decided no more innocent people were going to get killed on his behalf, he was going to fight back. He wasn't going to run anymore.

He jumped in the shower letting the hot beads of water soak his hair and roll down his back, relaxing him. He never realized how tense he got just thinking about what had happened that night.

What a way to start the day. He could tell already he was going to be in a bad mood for the rest of it. Not that anybody cared or would even bother to ask what was wrong. He sighed as he hopped out of the shower wrapping a towel around his waist. He went up to the sink and wiped away the fog that had accumulated on the mirror and glared at his reflection.

His body was well toned from a lifetime of fighting. The tattoos on his wrists were Chinese runes used for protection. It was really lucky that he came by the book the depicted the spell and magic the runes were encrypted with; he never even thought twice about getting them. Locating someone to infuse the magic with the tattoo was another matter. He'd started in Beijing searching for someone and had eventually found a person with the required ability in the caves of Luoyang. Getting there had been a nightmare, but ultimately it had been worth the trip.

Whenever he would slam his hands together the runic magic would send out a sort of shock-like wave of force. With a couple alterations to the runes he got the shockwaves to target only vampires, so if he used it, it would send any vampire within a twenty foot radius to go hurtling five to ten feet in the air at a speed of 150kph. It didn't send them far, but the sheer force of the burst was enough to ring their clocks for a few minutes until their visions returned to normal. It was dead useful when there were too many to fight and he needed a quick getaway.

His hair lay flat on his head weighed down by the water. His eyes were what stood out the most out of his facial features; they were the most unnatural color he'd ever seen. He got his eyebrow pierced the summer before sixth year, really just a spur of the moment type thing. He had his lip pierced a while a go but found out the hard way that it hurt like a bitch to get punched in the mouth with it in, so he promptly took it out telling himself never again.

He got dressed remembering to put his weapons in their usual spot. He had his wand in an arm holster on the right and on the left had his favorite dagger. Pure silver that would piss off any vampire like no other. That was another thing Harry found out at a younger age, he was only "allergic" to silver in its liquefied form. Just one more detail on the long list of weird things he could never understand about himself. He also had another smaller knife strapped around his right ankle.

He really didn't want to think about what would happen if any of the teachers caught him with such a deadly arsenal upon his person, but he also wasn't going anywhere without them. He had tried to once and the whole day he felt vulnerable and ten times more paranoid then he normally would. Even if it was the middle of the day. It probably didn't help that Lockhart had let loose a plethora of Cornish pixies. Idiot. Thank god Neville and Ron had forcibly destroyed the man's mind… or at least that's what the rumor at the time had been. Hard to believe it had been over four years since that happened.

Harry had had his wand when the pixies had come flying at him along with the rest of the class. He was okay with a wand. He picked up spells fairly quick. But for some reason unless he used spells that covered a wide area, his coordination with targeting spells just wasn't as good as it was with a dagger. He could throw a blade from ten meters and have it land where he wanted – usually in the neck or eye or heart of a stinkin' vamp. But if he tried that same tactic with his wand, it was usually off by a few centimeters.

Plus, he didn't get the satisfaction of doing the job up close and personal when he dusted a vampire. Wands were good for evening the odds, he had to give his secondary weapon that much. This year he knew he needed to improve his coordination with a wand if he was to take his battles with the vamps to a new level. But taking out a vampire still required a personal touch as he surveyed his primary weapon, the dagger on his left arm.

Harry let out another miserable sigh. What seventeen-year-old carried around weapons in a school? Scratch that. He'd seen the American media newsfeeds over the past several years. He knew their schools were littered with people that brought weapons.

But it wasn't right.

The day barely even started and he wanted it to be over. He had a feeling that the rest of the school year was going to be like this.

-o0o-

Sooo... What did ya think?

Peace\//


	4. A Screwed Up Instinct

Undead Secrets

Disclaimer: Same has always, makes me sad just writing I don't own anything….

A/N: Well lets see, nothing changed in this chapter. Like the last chapter, this one just got cleaned up. :)

**Chapter 4: A Screwed Up Instinct**

-o0o-

With a jaw popping yawn, Harry rubbed his left eye and picked precariously at his eggs. This was always the worst time of day. Morning. Especially bright mornings. As soon as that sun started to shine he would feel the familiar twinge of pain behind his eyes. It would numb off by midday before coming back just before sunset. The headaches weren't so bad on a cloudy day – as a matter of fact they were typically nonexistent; but on clear sunny days it was migraine-city. While you could count on everybody being out and around on sunny days, Harry usually found himself up in the dorm nursing a headache from hell, relaxing behind the curtains of his four poster bed. Saturated by the darkness they provided, it provided the comfort needed to sleep the gorgeous day away.

There were only a few students and teachers that were ever up this early. Professor Dumbledore being one of them with those ruddy twinkling eyes and that cheery smile. Harry stabbed at his egg, breaking the yolk as he glared up at the head table.

Bloody morning people. Harry grumbled, he wasn't usually so cynical in the mornings. But he supposed it was his fault he was in such a foul mood in the first place. Stupid really, thinking of the past, what good did it ever do?

-o0o-

The class was in an all out giddy chatter when Harry slumped into his usual seat at the back, pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. Professor Lupin was back again this year. Sure that was good thing, Harry had nothing against the guy being a teacher. He was the best the school had seen in a while.

But no, this guy had to be a freakin' werewolf. What was it with him and his god-awful luck? How did that phrase go again? If it wasn't for bad luck, he'd have no luck at all? At this point, Harry would take the no luck route just to avoid all the bad luck.

Not that he had anything against lycanthropy either, it wasn't Professor Lupin's fault; it just posed a slight problem for him. It took all his self restraint and then some not to give in to his vampire instincts and attack the poor man right there on the spot. What made it worse too was that Lupin was his favourite teacher, or at least he wasn't out to kill anyone like most of the professors had been out for Neville's blood.

But every once and a while the Professor would give him the "LOOK." It was one of those side long glances like he was trying to figure him out and he probably was doing just that too. If Harry's instincts started to act up when they were in the same room, he didn't doubt that Lupin's were as well.

"Hello class," he paused as the whole class gave a very enthusiastic 'hello professor'.

"Now I just want to tell you all right now that I won't be teaching for the whole year..." he held up his hand for silence as there were several cries through out the classroom. If anyone was paying close enough attention they would have seen Harry very visibly relax. "That's right, I will just be here for the first couple weeks helping your new teacher get settled." At that a wide smile grew across his face.

"What?"

"Who is it?"

"Dumbledore didn't say anything about a new teacher."

These statements and various others rippled about until they finally died down waiting for the answers from the now grinning like a Cheshire cat professor.

"Well it is with my greatest pleasure to introduce you to a long time friend of mine, and your new teacher... professor Black." Complete and utter silence met that last statement. Many, if not all the students had identical faces pulled, jaws dropped and eyes wide. All except four students: Harry with a thoughtful frown, looking like he didn't hear what was just said, and the golden trio with matching grins.

If anybody was going to trust their voice enough to speak up it was interrupted with the entrance of a one Sirius Orion Black.

He looked remarkably different than the wanted posters that much was for sure, Harry noted. He had shoulder length brown hair that was set in loose waves. His beard was cropped close and neat looking vs. the bushy while look of his earlier days of incarceration. His striking blue eyes were shining with amusement as he looked at all the shocked face of his new pupils. Harry looked at him biting into his thumb nail, briefly their eyes met before Harry promptly looked back down.

-o0o-

This new teacher was seriously creeping him out, if not for the fact that he was a convicted murderer, the very first person to escape Azkaban prison and hide from the ministry for almost three years only to be proven innocent (yes, Harry did read the paper now and then if only to stay abreast of current events); it was the fact that he just wouldn't stop _staring_ at him. Teachers never stared at him, only passing glances and those infrequent at best. But this, this guy had now stared at him for ten minutes straight. Just looking at his face, soaking in all his features. He was even sitting in the far back corner for Merlin's sake. His face was half hidden in the shadows but still with the staring. It wasn't one of those curious kinds of stares; no this was one of those calculating gazes.

He wanted something that much was for certain. What he wanted remained a mystery.

And it made Harry dangerously uncomfortable. It put him very, very close to the edge, had him fidgeting in his seat, chewing on the end of his quill, tapping his foot on the ground to the point where he couldn't even concentrate on his work or what Professor Lupin was saying.

What the hell was he even talking about?!

Harry was about ready to get up and book it the hell out of this classroom if the ex-con didn't get those eyes off of him. It was plain and simply disturbing.

Great, got my own personal hell right here at Hogwarts, Harry mused.

Harry could deal with the whole fighting his instincts thing but right now he really didn't know what to do. He felt like ripping his hair out, this was driving him nuts!

The exact minute the bell rang for lunch Harry was up and out of there in a blur.

Which was unfortunate as if he had stayed longer he would have been asked to remain behind so the creepy professor could talk to him. And explain why he'd been staring.

-o0o-

"Come on Remus, he doesn't even know who I am!" Sirius practically yelled at his long time friend. "Or you for that matter... " the classroom had just emptied with the entire student body heading down to the great hall for lunch.

"I know," Remus replied back.

"Did you see him in class today? He just sat there all by himself. Was he always like that?" he looked up at Remus from his slouched position at the desk. Remus knew something he could see it in his eyes but he didn't look like he wanted to say anything. Instead he watched as he covered it up with a smile that just didn't reach his eyes.

"I think you really weirded him out today in class," he said with a chuckle. "He practically ran out of here when the bell sounded."

Sirius wasn't buying any of it, okay so maybe he should not have stared so much at him but he really couldn't help it, he could see so much of Harry's parents in him, it was fascinating. Just give him some dorky glasses instead of those dark sunglasses and he could have passed as James' twin back in the day.

No, Remus was hiding something from him, he knew it. Remus would always try and skirt around the issue whenever Harry was brought up and he was going to find out what was up.

"Remus," Sirius started, eyes narrowing, "what is it? I know you know something so just tell me already."

Remus sighed; he figured he'd have to tell Sirius sooner or later. He really preferred if it was later though.

"Okay just hear me through till the end," he paused to watch as Sirius nodded his head, eager for more new information on his godson. "Well um... How should I say this..."

"Out with it already," Sirius jumped up from his seat, he seemed almost giddy. Whatever Remus was going to say really couldn't be that bad. Right?

"His scent is off," Remus blurted out.

Sirius cleared his throat giving Remus a weird look. "I'm sorry, what was that?" he was trying to catch his eye because he somehow found just how interested shoes could be.

"It's hard to explain, but he just... Oh I don't know. He smells almost like a vampire but... not," he finished lamely.

"Remus, buddy, you aren't making any sense at all," Slapping Remus on the back, Sirius turned and walked past him heading towards the door. With his back to Remus, he missed the contemplative frown on his longest friend's face.

-o0o-

Two minutes out of that classroom and Harry was positive everybody knew of the new teacher by now.

It was amazing how fast gossip got around in this school. Harry shook his head as he plopped down in his usual spot at the Great Hall. The very far end, closest to the doors at the Gryffindor table. Closest to an escape if he needed it.

He sat straddling the bench, back to the entrance, idly sipping on pumpkin juice, letting his thoughts wander from 'why the hell was the new teacher staring at me?' to 'I could really use a beer'. At that thought Harry glared at his juice silently willing it to turn into something alcoholic. It would be his luck that the spell to turn his drink would be in the Restricted Area of the library. He'd have to find it, though. His future depended on it.

Yeah, his future if he ever wanted to be a bartender… he grinned at his internal joke. Bartender. Sure. He could open a vamp bar and invite the bloodsuckers in and dust them instead of having to chase them down. Sure. Of course he'd have to find a way to advertise it since word of mouth wouldn't be happening since no mouths would be leaving the establishment. What could he call it? Bloody Mary's? No. How about Vampaholoics? Deadheads-R-Us? Blood bank?

"Hey Harry." The voice was so sudden and wholly unexpected that it made Harry whip around in his seat towards the voice. In his surprise he let go of the goblet he'd been holding.

Oh crap. His hand shot out, acting purely on reflex, he caught the goblet only spilling a little over the side.

"Whoa, nice reflexes!" Once again an unexpected voice made him jump but this time he was a little more prepared. Cringing a little he turned and set the drink down on the nice more-sturdy table. He looked up fully intended on glaring at the voices but faltered when he recognized Ron, Hermione and Neville.

Ron had a surprised look on his face, Neville slightly concerned and Hermione with one of indifference. Not in the brightest mood to talk Harry just looked at them classic pierced eyebrow quirked.

"Right, sorry to, um, startle you Harry," Hermione said sounding honestly sincere causing Harry to once again be confused. Not wanting to show he was really a little off balance he turned and sat back down again.

"Mind if we sit with you?" He chanced a glance up to see that the three were already seating themselves. Hermione sat beside him and Ron and Neville on the other side of the table.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he stated if not a bit moodily, then exasperated. Sighing he took another drink from his juice, pretending with all his might that it was indeed an ice cold beer. He had to find that spell! He wanted it now more than ever!

"So, Harry, what do you think of Professor Black?" Hermione started up the conversation as she casually filled up her plate.

"Creepy," he didn't think he actually said it out loud but from the questioning looks he was getting from all three he was guessing that he did._ Oh crap_. Instead of elaborating he picked up a sandwich and practically stuffed the whole thing in his mouth.

That should buy me a couple minutes at least, he thought to himself as he worked on chewing the food in his mouth, immediately regretting taking that big of a bite. He had literally bit off more than he could chew.

"Yeah I noticed he was sort of staring at you," Hermione said looking at him completely bewildered and confused. Harry swallowed the lump of chewed up food in his mouth with a little difficulty then looked at over at her.

"Oh you noticed it too? Here I thought I was going insane," he said to her in a matter of fact voice laced with sarcasm.

"Sort of," she said.

"It was like the man was trying to stare me to death." Ron and Neville snorted into their food and Hermione sent a glare at the two boys before looking back at Harry with a small smile.

"We were going to ask him why after dinner."

Harry snapped his head over to look directly at her as she took a drink from her goblet.

What the... Why on earth would they do that?

Oh, hold up, they must know him.

Why else would they be smiling at him in class you idiot. Yup, he really needed to get rid of that annoying little voice right about now.

Harry sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, why in the world did he have to start feeling like a fifty year old man now?

"Why?" he asked honestly perplexed.

All three looked up at him with just as much confusion.

"Well, we thought that you know... Um find out why and all that," Neville spoke up when it was evident that no one else was going to. He shifted awkwardly in his seat and rubbed the back of his head with a hand. He looked up at Harry with a half embarrassed smile.

Is that what this is about? Harry thought to himself, the pieces were starting to fall into place now. He looked all three of them in the eye a little taken aback. He sighed before standing up.

"Look you guys, I appreciate this and all but," he said slinging his school bag over one shoulder, "I really don't need or want your pity." With a half hearted glare he turned and left the great hall. As soon as he was out of eyeshot around the corner he stopped and shrugged off his bag and leaned against the wall. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

He really wasn't in the mood for any more of this emotional turmoil crap.

-o0o-

Hope that was a little easier to read!

Dont be afraid to review either!

Peace\//


	5. A Popular Harry

Undead Secrets

Disclaimer: I really honest to god do not own a thing….seriously…

A/N: Here it is! You can probably tell, a more in depth explaination with Sirius has been added. Hope it makes more sense now :)

Chapter 5: A Popular Harry

-o0o-

Harry thought back to what he knew about Sirius Black, ex-con. Most… no, everything he knew about the man he'd read in the newspaper. Sirius Black had been a student at Hogwarts in the 70's and had supposedly joined Voldemort's goon squad after graduating. In 1981 he somehow found the location of where his parents were staying and ratted them out to his Death Eater pals. Said Death Eaters showed up and began battling James and Lily Potter until reinforcements showed up. Unfortunately, those reinforcements had showed up a little too late to save his parents.

The reason they showed up, Harry figured, was they had been trying to battle Voldemort head on at the Longbottom house where, apparently, Sirius Black had also been mentioned. The Potters and the Longbottom families had both gone into protective custody for some reason (and Harry had never found out) around the same time. A spell had been used to hide them and apparently Sirius Black was involved with both spells. Bad luck that he'd been a Death Eater but that's what blind trust leads to, Harry knew.

Apparently after selling out both the Potter and Longbottom families, Sirius took off only to be found by Peter Pettigrew, an old schoolmate of his who had accused him of being a Death Eater and managed to hold him at bay long enough for the Aurors to come in and arrest him. Unfortunately it had cost about a dozen bystanders and Pettigrew their lives but the Aurors were certain that they'd had their man.

So he was arrested and chucked into prison the same day. Didn't even give the s.o.b. a trial. That had been the Ministry's first mistake. So he spends the next decade in prison until one day he escapes. First person to ever do it in fact. That had been the Ministry's second mistake. So wanted posters go up, newspapers expound on escaped mass murderer Sirius Black, and law organizations are put on alert. One day he even makes it to Hogwarts to kill Neville. Only it doesn't happen and then the hoopla of Sirius Black seems to fade to the background. Harry had been glad when that year was over. He'd hated those damn dementors – they were nearly as bad as vampires. He'd have to find a way to combat them one day. Especially if the rumor of them and the vamps aligning with Voldemort were true.

Only, it turns out Pettigrew wasn't as dead as everyone thought. The bastard was very much alive and had been hiding all this time because he was the Death Eater instead of Sirius Black. Around December last year the sneaky cretin had been caught and interrogated by Aurors and a gleeful Fudge who had wanted some good news, figuring that Pettigrew had been injured all those years ago and probably had some memory loss. So as soon as they confirmed who he was they would get him some treatment at St. Mungo's and he could rejoin society as the man who had captured Sirius Black in 1981.

Only, it didn't turn out that way. That had been the Ministry's third and final mistake. Pettigrew had no memory loss. And when interrogated it was found out that he was a Death Eater and had been the one to sell out both the Potters and the Longbottoms to his master. That Sirius had been the one to track him down and that Pettigrew had killed the muggles in an effort to escape. The resulting backlash of that interview, fortunately caught by most of the reporters there who had been brought in at Fudge's insistence to showcase an innocent wizard rejoining his place in society once the Veritaserum worked and forced his body to remember events was enough to set into motion events that freed Sirius Black and ousted Cornelius Fudge as Minister of Magic.

Harry knew that Sirius Black had been wrongly sent to prison and could care less that he was an ex-con. He'd met worse in his life. And these were people that had been actively helping him for years. No, what bothered him was the incessant staring he'd done in class earlier. He'd wanted something and Harry had no idea what it was.

Only that there was a _chance_ it wasn't good news for him. And knowing how his luck was going these days, it _probably_ wasn't good news.

-o0o-

Harry had to get out of this school. Which was a first for him; never before had he ever wanted to leave the school during the day. Sure he would sneak out on weekends but it was only the first day of classes. What had happened? Hogwarts had always represented a simpler life to Harry, but now a little over 24 hours within these walls and he was pretty sure he had by no means been this tense before. Not even when they put that sorting cap on his head and it had wanted to put him in a Defence Against the Dark Arts apprenticeship. Ruddy hat. He'd had to argue just to get placed in a normal house just so he wouldn't get pegged as odd, different. He had needed to blend in to survive.

With that thought Harry opened his eyes and stretched his arms over his head. Yup he was getting out of here. Who cared that he still had two classes to go to. Nobody would care all that much, besides he really needed to unwind even if it was just a little bit.

So with that thought Harry grabbed his bag and headed up to the Gryffindor tower at a quick pace.

The common room was empty as he stepped through the portrait hole. All the better. He got up to the boys seventh year dorms and went straight to his trunk. He got out his muggle clothes. A plain black wife beater and a pair of dark blue jeans with rips at the knees.

I wonder if I have any pants that aren't ripped? Harry pondered as he peeled off the annoying school robes. _Honestly how were you supposed to fight with these bulky heavy ass robes?_

Harry pondered as he peeled off the annoying school robes. 

He double checked to make sure he had all of his weapons before slipping under his father's invisibility cloak. Well he was pretty sure it was his father's. It was some mysterious Christmas present back in first year. The one and only.

Harry made his way out of the castle, dodging students in the halls every now and then. As the entrance doors came into view, he had, for a millisecond, almost turned back around. Something felt a little off. But his stomach clenched at the thought of going back to class though and it was not like he wasn't going to come back.

Glancing around he saw that there wasn't anybody around, well they really wouldn't have seen him being invisible and all. Either way nobody would have taken a second look at him. He took a deep breath then strode purposely out the doors, and down the steps. As soon as he knew no one would hear him, he increased his pace to a jog. Once he reached the Hogwarts gates he took a look at the massive castle behind him.

Even after six years it still took his breath away.

Shaking his head remembering what he was doing, he promptly apparated away with one destination in mind.

-o0o-

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office like he usually did when students were attending classes. He was so immersed in his work, for the Order and the school, that the small "PING!" sound, much like when a person flicks the bottom of a pot, shocked him.

He knew what that sound meant.

He stood and went over to a cabinet and pulled out a silver contraption. It looked much like trophy, but there was a faint mist evaporating out off the cup. Setting the thing on his desk he simply looked at it, as if waiting for it to do something. Not even two seconds later it made another PING sound and at the bottom and a small name slowly started to appear in gold cursive.

The name that showed up had the headmaster frowning. His head was bombarded with even more questions, now focused on a certain boy.

"Show me," he whispered quietly.

Rapidly before his eyes the mist cleared revealing the front of the Hogwarts School, full view of the entrance gates. But nobody was there... Then it dawned on the old man. There was defiantly somebody there, hiding beneath a certain invisibility cloak was a certain black haired boy. But the major question that pushed forth in Albus' mind was...

What was Harry Potter doing skipping classes?

-o0o-

Harry's feet slammed into a grassy field. He didn't pause once, he just kept walking not daring to take his special cloak off until he was inside. Up ahead was a semi-run down four-story brick building. A few junk cars littered the front of the building, as well as graffiti plastering the chipped red bricks. The grass around it was overgrown and yellowing. A gravel road off to the side led to other places just as run down and dirty.

He stepped through the open back entrance heading up the stairs all the way to the fourth floor. Along the way he could hear various sounds of music or a television or the odd couple fighting.

Finally he reached a door that had a total of three locks on the blackened door. Well, only three locks that people could see. There were several more magical locks that Harry used every chance he could now that he was "of age". Without further ado Harry pulled a silver chain from around his neck. It jingled and clinked as he grabbed one of the two small bronze keys attached to it and easily slid it unto the lock. A couple of clinks later the door was open and Harry was inside. The place was small and bare. Wallpaper was peeling off the yellowed walls, the floor was dirty and there was the old rat hole here and there along the sides of the walls.

Throwing off the cloak and tossing it over to a grubby brown couch, Harry went straight to the fridge wrenching it open. A smirk spread across his handsome features as his eye caught exactly what he was craving.

An ice cold beer.

Okay so what if he was a little bit young to be having cravings for beer in the middle of the day. It's not like he cared. He doubted he'd be afforded the opportunity to live to middle age so didn't want to squander his youth thinking he shouldn't drink until he was older. If he was old enough to join the military and kill, then he was definitely old enough to drink. With that he grabbed one out of the fridge, popped the top, chugged half it back and slammed it down on the counter with a satisfied sigh.

Wiping his lips with the back of his hand he turned and walked over to a black stereo. He flipped through a couple CD's scattered around before finding the one he wanted. He slipped it into the stereo with well practiced ease and hit the power button. Almost immediately his hearing was invaded with _Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana_. Turning the volume dial up just a tiny bit more, to block out the sounds of the outside world, he got up and moved to a small bedroom. Inside was just as bare as everywhere else. There was a small mattress on the floor, a couple black, patched up duffle bags and a small trunk.

Harry made his way to one of his duffle bags, pulling one closer as he plopped down on the lumpy mattress. He unzipped the top and started rummaging around in it looking for something. He let a smile grace his lips as he found what he was looking. A beat up brown leather jacket. Sure the thing had seen better days, but hey it was Harry's favourite piece of clothing. He didn't bother putting it on he just dug in one of the pockets before pulling out a small package.

Cigarettes.

Sighing he laid the jacket down beside him and rummaged with the cigarette package, and pulled one out. He stuck the smoke between his lips then snapped his fingers and an orange flame appeared lighting the smoke up.

He leaned back up against the wall thinking as the smoke from his cigarette danced around his face.

Was it really the smartest idea to leave Hogwarts?

That question ran through his mind while he took a long drag from the smoke. He found that he wasn't going to worry about it now. He'd deal with that problem when he was back up at the school. More than likely no one would even know he was gone. Blowing the smoke out through his lips he watched as the bluish grey plume dissipated into the air, disappearing. It was like his problems vanished with the smoke but like the smell of cigarette lingering in the air his problems were still there just out of sight.

Out of sight out of mind.

He never really got that saying until a couple years back when he was a twitchy little twelve year old.

-o0o-

Flashback

He looked like a regular eleven almost twelve year old, wandering the streets with wide eyes. If you looked closer though you could tell this kid was scared. His eyes weren't wide with childish curiosity like most children, no his, they were wide with fear.

Harry had just got out of Hogwarts not two weeks before. Got to say it wasn't that big of a shock to find out magic was real. No, what the real shocker was to find out that his late parents had left him a small fortune. No more sleeping in the streets when school got out, new clothes, hot food. Oh happy day.

Now he was in a bit of a hurry to get to his next shelter, a small motel on the edge of town. He never called anyplace home; he never stayed long enough in one place to have somewhere to call home. But it didn't matter anymore he liked to call Hogwarts home.

His emerald eyes gleamed in the darkness and they skittered about and down dark ally ways. It was just after sunset and now Harry had an excuse to be jumpy. He was constantly jumpy during the day and he couldn't help it not when he knew what was going to happen at night. That thought always made him panic and his insides squirm.

Now as the blanket of darkness covered to small town he was staying in... .

Where was he again?

The name of the place escaped him but he knew exactly where his shelter was. All well...

Harry pulled out a small wooden stake that he had concealed up the sleeve of his sweater for safe keeping, and readied his body for any sudden attacked that might happen. None of his senses where telling him of danger but what can he say he was just a little bit paranoid, okay maybe a lot_ especially for a twelve year old. _

As he turned the corner he stopped. There ahead of him was an old man. Not so much old but at least late forties early fifties. He had sharp features, a muscular build and his short cropped hair was graying around the ears.

Little Harry leaned back against the dank wall and watched the man. He was locking up a small used bookstore. Harry was going to turn around and go it a different way to avoid this stranger. He didn't trust anybody. It was better to stay away and dodge the chance of getting stabbed in the back.

But as he turned his body and took a step back, his eyes still trained on the stranger and because of that he didn't see the glass bottle at his feet and ended up kicking it so it went skirting to the middle of the street making god awful racket along the way.

The man jumped and looked around.

"Who's there?" his voice wasn't scared or angry like his look gave off but rather kind much like if he was asking someone if they wanted tea.

It was the voice that had kept Harry from bolting the other way and almost against his will had him talking.

"I... …I'm sorry sir." Damn it why did his voice half to sound to blooming childish. He stowed the stake back away in his sleeve before the stranger could see it.

lot 

"_It's alright," the man said with a chuckle as he looked down the street towards Harry. Harry quickly looked away to the ground. "Can I ask why you are out? It is past curfew" _

"I... … uh I was just... ...um," oh crap! What was he supposed to say? He didn't know there was a bloody curfew in this town.

The man merely chuckled again and Harry couldn't help but calm down, it just felt so warm. "Well come on lad, I'll walk you home."

Under normal circumstances Harry wouldn't have gone with this guy, he would have turned and ran the other way. But this guy just did the impossible. He made Harry feel like a child and it was that feeling that Harry was so desperate for. He went towards the man and just looked at him shyly through his hair.

"_All right then," he smiled kindly down at Harry. It was a true smile, not the sneers and smirks that vampires always gave him. "Where is it you live then?" he asked peering at Harry curiously. _

"Um... I'm staying at the Sundown Motel"

"The Sundown Motel eh? Aye that'd be the next block over. Where are your parents anyway lad?" he asked scratching the stubble on his cheek as they started down the road.

"Oh... they're at the room, I um kind of went for a walk, didn't realize there was a curfew," Harry replied spinning lies and half truths. The man just nodded his head accepting it.

Down an alley a cat bolted out into the open knocking a trash can over in the process. Harry very visibly jumped at that.

The man looked down at him, a merry smile on his face.

"Jumpy little lad aren't you?"

"Well if you knew what I had to put up with you would be too," Harry mumbled not meaning for the man to hear him, but he did anyways.

"Out of sight out of mind kid," was all he said. That statement made Harry stop and give the man a funny look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked when it became apparent that the man wasn't going to stop walking.

He jogged a little ways to catch up and tried to look the guy in the eyes but he kept his eyes forward, a tiny hint of a smile on his face.

Harry was still looking at him when he stopped suddenly making Harry stumble but not falling.

"_Live in the now kid, don't worry about what the future will bring. What will come, will come and you'll face it when it does. But for now don't worry yourself over it." He ruffled Harry's hair and pointed across the street. "There's your place." _

Harry looked to where he was pointed and indeed there was the plain looking motel. Red light buzzing Sundown Motel and underneath a blinking light that stated there was vacancy.

He turned meaning to thank the man for everything only to find that he was gone. Nowhere to be seen along the deserted streets. The wind picked up making Harry shiver as he made his way to his room.

Out of sight out of mind.

Huh, who would have known that little motto could make such a big impact in somebody's life.

-o0o-

He never even got the man's name. He went back to the old bookstore then next day only to find that it was closed for business. To this day it was still a big mystery that made Harry's head spin trying to make sense out of it. But still he never regretted talking with that stranger whoever he was.

Leaning forward, he snuffed out the smoke in an ashtray beside him. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

-o0o-

Dinner was being served at Hogwarts just as the sun went down. Everyone was laughing and chatting loudly with not a care in the world, well besides a select few that had other problems on their minds.

Professor Dumbledore was scanning the hall, looking for something or rather someone. But when he didn't find what he was looking for he sighed and concentrated and on the small squeaky charms professor, who was babbling about the new first years and how many times he had to clean up burnt feathers up off the floor, all in one day!

Ron, Hermione, and Neville all tried to have a conversation but it was in vain as their eyes and attention would wander across the table every few seconds.

Remus and Sirius were sitting at the head table. Remus was half heartedly trying to pull Sirius into a conversation but he knew once Sirius's mind was on something there was no use trying to get his attention back. So in the end Remus gave up trying to talk and gave a half amused sigh as he watched his friend almost literally bouncing in his seat.

"Where could he be?" was what Remus could hear him mumble every so often. His eyes danced from table to table searching for a black haired boy. Remus almost laughed outright when Sirius's eyes looked intently at the Slytherin table before he would shake his head and gaze back the other tables.

"Does he normally not come to dinner?" Sirius asked exasperated having finally give up his search.

"Hmmm..." Remus got a faraway look as he tried to recall back when he taught last. "I don't really remember actually. I never paid close enough attention." He tapped his chin with his forefinger still lost in thought. "That was when you just escaped and I still thought you were guilty," he finished shooting his friend a sheepish grin.

All Sirius could do was send out a silent 'oh' and resolved to finish eating his dinner, looking a little defeated.

Neither of the two new defence teachers had realized that Harry Potter had not shown up for his last two classes or that he wasn't even in the castle anymore. While in a secret location that same black haired teenager slept fitfully having no idea that at that moment there was several people thinking about him.

Harry Potter was officially popular tonight.

-o0o-

Well, there you go. Hope you like it!

And dont be afraid to review! I dont bite, honestly!

Peace\//


	6. A Confusing Conversation

Undead Secrets

Disclaimer: Ya'll know the drill. I, once again, do not own a thing.

A/N: Nothings changed, this chapter was just cleaned up, much easier to read if I do say so myself.

**Chapter 6: A Confusing Conversation**

-o0o-

Dream/flashback

A fifteen year old boy.

A normal fifteen year old boy?

Don't think so.

He sure looked regular to the human eye. Nothing unusual on the outside. His black hair was spiked out in odd directions, plain beat up brown leather jacket, black cargo pants and if someone got the chance to look close enough, the most amazing green eyes anyone would ever see.

He was walking at a fast pace, eyes straight ahead. His face was set with wild determination. The look clearly portraying you get in my way I'm gonna beat cha down.

Harry had gotten a tip that there was a pack of blood sucking fiends planning on... well what else?

World domination of course.

Harry had to laugh at that. Honestly could you get anymore lame? Packs were all the same. All hell bent on dominating the world. The packs were pretty much the main problem; the clans were more into that political crap. Never really made sense to Harry.

Clans were what Harry called the Born Vampires. He found out earlier on that the vamps that made up a clan were all pure vampires, they weren't made or turned into one. They were simply born a vampire. And well we all know how that works out.

It was kind of like the most of the pure bloods in the wizarding community. Thinking they were better. Blah, blah, blah. So far they had stayed out of Harry's life, not much point worrying about it till it became a problem really.

He was in America for the summer. It wasn't the first time he was in the country but the first time he was in Arizona. He never planned where he was going to go, usually just drifted from place to place. This place though, this place was practically steaming with dark activity. Harry could feel it right down to his toes, so he decided to stay and try and to fix the problem before anything worse happened.

The town was already spooked. Nobody staying out after dark, locking their doors leaving lights on all night – that kind of scared. These people were basically nervous to the point of being frightened of their own shadows.

Then Harry found out why. He found out that there was an abnormally large pack terrorizing the town. A vampire pack typically contained around five to six vampires (one trash talker, the rest being muscle) but from what Harry gathered there were at least 20 here.

That made Harry take it a bit slower. It's not like he could just barge into their little nest and dust the vamps. No there were too many to do that.

So he was going to do it the old fashioned sneak-and-creep kind of way.

He briskly slinked into the shadows as he came to the edge of the town. He didn't like what he felt. What put him on edge was that the town was oddly quiet, almost like a ghost town. Harry pushed those thoughts out of his mind and looked up at the hilltop situated there.

Sitting at the top of said hill was an old Victorian style house. He could tell it actually hadn't been inhabited by people in at least fifty years. Dead cracking vines still clung to the darkened house, long dead trees stood still rooted to the ground and all the windows were boarded up. Basically this house just screamed corny horror flick.

When he had started asking questions around town, the people immediately pointed him towards this house. "Oh it's haunted," they had said. "People go in they never come out". And what better place for a hideout then the local haunted house?

Harry sighed and decided to make this quick. Maybe he could get in a few hours of watching the news to get a lead on where to head next if he did. He could take them on, besides they were most likely all younger vamps anyway. Not a single thinker in the bunch. Usually thinkers were those that ran first and left the fighting (and dying) to the rest.

Making his way along the overgrown walkway he looked at the house again wondering if anyone was watching him. He took his time as he walked up the cracked stone stairs. Looking at the door seemingly disinterested, he reached up pulled on the old fashioned knocker on the door. He let it drop silently and almost cringed at the creepy ominous clang that echoed throughout the household.

About a minute later the door opened excruciatingly slowly, resonating with an irritating creak along the way. At that Harry had to roll his eyes. Enough with the melodramatics already. Finally, finally_ the door opened all the way to reveal young male, probably 18 or 19 years old. Well at least that age when he died. He had brown curly hair that fell around his broad pale face. _

He looked at Harry with the tell-tale smirk on his face showing off his pointed K9's.

"Hey you guys want some cookies?" Harry asked with wide innocent eyes. Which probably looked absolutely ridiculous on him.

The vamp looked bewildered at him for a few seconds and then his face changed into a frown as he caught Harry's scent. But before he could do anything Harry reached out and grabbed his neck.

Harry then spun him around so his back was pressed up against Harry's front before the vamp even knew what happened. Harry pressed the blade of his knife against the vampire's neck making it sizzle and smoke. The vamp let out a hiss of pain but didn't dare try and move.

"Who's runnin' this game?" he whispered into the vamp's ear.

"Da... Darius," he choked out.

Harry wasn't in the mood to play nice so roughly pulled his arm back slitting the vampire's throat along with it. The brown haired vamp fell onto his back clawing at his throat as the silver molecules raced to throughout his body like toxic sludge through warm butter. Blood gushed out of the wound into the antiquely designed carpet. It was too late for the vampire and with one last raged gasp he promptly turned into a small explosion of dust. The dust lingered in the air, peacefully falling to the ground, before disappearing altogether. The blood along with it. Too bad the stains were still there.

Not that Harry cared one iota.

Harry didn't stick around to watch the show. His back was already turned and slinking down the narrow hallway. He stopped and sniffed the air. Tilting his head to one side, his eyes narrowed as he found that there had to be three vampires in the next room over. Sure enough if he listened hard enough he heard the crackle of a fire.

Walking to the door with silent feet, he peeked into the room through the crack in the door. It was a small room, a fireplace on the opposite wall, two patched up couches stood facing each other with a rectangular table between them.

Sitting on one couch, hunched over the papers on the table, was a bulky looking vampire. That kind that fit the bill of all brawn and no brain. What made Harry momentarily scrunch up his face was the two on the other couch. They were sucking face hard core. The girl had one leg draped over the guy's and the guy's hands were… ah… exploring her body so to speak. They had yet to realize he was standing outside. That made Harry smirk, and with that smirk still on his face he strode right into the room.

He plopped down on the couch with the lone vampire on it. He didn't even look up nor did the other two, they still being otherwise preoccupied.

"Who was at the door?" the Lump, as Harry dubbed the still hunched over figure, grunted.

"Some kid sellin' cookies," he replied nonchalantly looking at his fingernails.

That made the Lump stiffen up and freeze all his movements. The Lump slowly turned his head and gazed at Harry with red tinted eyes. He let a menacing hiss escape his mouth showing his deadly fangs.

Harry was way ahead of him when the Lump decided to attack. With a flick of his wrist, a wooden stake was firmly planted in his hand. Without a moments hesitation, he thrust his arm forward, stopping the Lump right in his tracks.

Bull's-eye.

The Lump's eyes were wide, his chin dropped to his chest mere inches away from the stake protruding out from were his black heart was. He let out an enraged cry as Harry ripped the stake back out. The scream died out and in place of the Lump was now some dust that was floating to the floor.

The scream had gotten the attention of the other two. Quite frankly Harry would have been slightly disturbed if it didn't.

"What the hell?!" the guy vamp yelled, shocked.

"Who the hell are you?" the vampiress screeched at the same time.

"Who me?" Harry asked pointing to himself while looked around the room for somebody else.

Just as Harry looked back at the two he could tell the girl was ready to pounce. In a blink, Harry flipped the stake that was still in his hand and whipped it at the girl. True to its mark, it stuck the girl in the money spot. She looked at it completely panicked. Her breath came in short gasps, her back arched and she flung her head back and screamed. Then of course she turned into dust.

A sight that made Harry feel that much better.

"NO!" the guy yelled reaching out and grabbing the dust. He watched the dust slide between his fingers.

"You son of bitch!" he snarled letting out his vampire side. His fangs elongated and his eyes became bloodshot and red tinted. "I'm going to rip your heart out!" he hissed and vaulted off the couch towards Harry.

Harry anticipated the move and, using that table as leverage, pushed back knocking the couch backwards. The vamp flew over the top of him, tumbling a few feet away.

Harry flipped onto his feet just as the vamp did the same. He obviously had caught his scent now because he let out another threatening hiss.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"Oh I was just looking for some guy named Darius. Ever heard of him?" although he said it sarcastically he still glared at his opponent.

Something akin to comprehension dawned on the vampire's face.

"You're the one, the one everyone whispers about," he said. It was painfully clear that he wasn't listening to Harry at all. "The disgrace to vampire kind. Abomination." He was back to glaring at Harry.

"Really?" Harry drawled, quirking an eyebrow.

The vamp just snarled yet again and launched at Harry. About five seconds later Harry was on top of the vamp, his trusty dagger pressed against the vamps throat.

"_Why don't you just tell me what I want to know and I'll think about letting you go?" Harry yelled. What surprised Harry more was that the vamp actually started laughing. _

"You're too late," he cackled.

"What?" Harry asked confused. "What the hell are you talking about?" He pressed to dagger down harder effectively shutting up the vampire.

"Everyone's already gone," he hissed at Harry. "Our plan is in motion."

Harry had had enough of this guy, he slit the vamps throat in one fluid motion. He got up and walked to the table with the scattered papers all over it.

The papers had various plans etched across them. Hmm... So they're planning to take over the town... Harry thought bitterly. Couldn't they at least come up with something semi original?

He let that thought hang in the air as he briskly turned on his heel at ran out the door.

He had to stop this course of action. There was no way in hell he could dust an entire town without help. And the last thing he even wanted to do was whack the bunch of young kids he'd seen playing in a park earlier this afternoon. Cute kids.

No, he was not letting some sorry s.o.b. turn them into vamps.

When he made it outside and to the bottom of the hill he stopped. Catching his breath he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and let loose his tracking sense. Images rushed into his mind, he watched as various streets of the town blurred past. Several fast twists and turns later, everything abruptly stopped. It was a clearing, plush trees were situated around in a half circle and the moonlight was peeking out through the branches. In the clearing stood about 15 or 16 vampires, eyes shining and fangs glistening. There was one vamp in the forefront talking with the others and they were eerily paying rapt attention.

"The park," he breathed. His eyes snapped open and he didn't waste a second as he took off at a dead run.

Heightened abilities or not, running there still took longer than it would have if he'd had a motorcycle. He'd have to think about getting one. After he'd dealt with this crisis.

When he got there he was shocked to see that the group of vampires in disarray. There were a couple patches of burning grass here and there, the vampire numbers had dwindled down to about nine now.

The source of the commotion became clear when Harry spotted a petite girl fighting of them off. All Harry could make from her was the chocolate brown hair and her tiny figure.

'Damn she's good,' Harry thought as he watched the girl twist and turn, punch and kick. Harry jumped into action when it became obvious that she was starting to struggle. He didn't know her but she was obviously anti-vamp and that made her aces in his book. A vamp had pulled her arms behind her back while another was about to give her face shots. Harry recognized the guy as the leader. So he must have been Darius...

Five vampires now.

They all watched as the lead vampire landed a hard punch on the girl's face. She let out a grunt while her head whipped to the side.

Harry was already on the move before that. He had taken out a vamp while his back was turned. Harry then had a clear shot of the one feeding the girl face shots. He only got two hits in before Harry's dagger was protruding from his back. He froze mid punch and hissed in pain. The guy whipped around facing Harry and then burst into dust.

The others cried out in surprise and shock still staring at the spot where their supposed leader had just been. Harry watched as the girl used the distraction to her advantage and knocked her head back to meet the face of the vampire holding her. He dropped the girl holding his now-broken nose.

That seemed to snap everyone out of their shock. Unfortunately Harry let his guard down a little bit while he was watching the mysterious girl. It was enough for a vamp to tackle him down to the ground hard. They wrestled for a minute or two, the vampire snarling and snapping his teeth at him. Harry finally got an opening and without delay dusted the vamp.

He was on his feet just in time to block a kick. He grabbed the foot and twisted it sending the vampire tumbling to the ground. He turned and sent a punch to a vamp sneaking up behind him.

A few blocks and kicks later the vamp was dusted. Harry stood still as the vamp turned to dust before him. He heard a painful hiss right behind him. He whipped around to come face to face with a pile of dust.

He coughed and sputtered as he inhaled the nasty remains of the vampire.

He heard a snort of amusement and remembered the girl. He opened his eyes and looked directly at the girl six feet away from him. Now that Harry got a good look at her he could tell she wasn't a day over 16. Her brown hair came down to her slim shoulders. She was tiny, probably about 5'3 5'4 but her figure was toned and athletic. She didn't cover her face with make up, but she was very pretty. There was something else about her though, underneath the surface. Harry just couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her expression guarded, eyes narrowed.

"Call me Ray," Harry replied with the same expression. She took a step to the left making Harry take one to the right, keeping them parallel to each other.

"Names Morgan," she reciprocated, looking Harry up and down.

"Who are _you?" they both said at the same time then continued to glare at on another. The look in her eyes was telling him to go first but Harry had a look that said 'no, you go first.' _

"I'm the slayer," she conceded finally but the threat was clear as day.

(A/N okay so that was a absurdly long flashback, I couldn't help... ... (cringes) but don't worry the chapters not over yet)

-o0o-

Emerald eyes snapped open.

It was dark. That was the first semi coherent thought that came to mind. He turned his head to look at the glowing red numbers on his alarm clock and groaned at what he saw.

10:59pm.

Oh never mind 11:00 now. Not quite the witching hour but it was time to get moving.

Harry got up and stretched. The dream he had was still fresh in his mind. He hadn't thought about Morgan in a while. The slayer. It surprised him when he found out who she was. Not that it should have, honestly if vampires and magic and everything else pretty much fantasy related could be real then why shouldn't there be a slayer too.

Making his way to the tiny bathroom, he splashed water on his face to make him more alert and less groggy. Taking a towel and drying his face off, Harry looked at himself in the mirror. With a wave of his hand, his previously messy hair was done up in his regular spikes.

He went back to his room and shut the creaky door. When he came out he was ready to leave.

He was dressed in his regular clothes, ripped jeans, black tee and his brown leather jacket. But this time he looked older. He sipped a small aging potion to make him look about 21, maybe 22. It was just that much easier to get into bars and clubs without getting ID'd. It would wear off in six hours anyway. Looking at the vial he noted that he'd need to brew some more up soon.

Of course he had all his weapons concealed in their rightful spots. The jacket he wore more for the fact that he had leather holsters on each wrist, one with a slim wooden stake and one with his prized dagger. He left his wand in a holster around his ankle simply because it was pretty much useless against vampires. The few spells that did work in one-on-one meetings with fangheads were really hit or miss. But give him a clustered group of vamps and he could use his wand to fry, drown, pulverize, bake, or any other numerous ways to otherwise rid the world of some useless deads who should have known better than to try to come back to life.

Harry grinned at the way his last "drowning" had gone this past summer when he'd visited Sydney. You would think that being dead already, the vamps couldn't drown. That's what they thought too when Harry had summoned hundreds of gallons of water and levitated it over them. They'd even laughed, thanking him for the shower. They weren't laughing long as the hundreds of gallons of holy water rained down on them like an acid bath.

So with that he made his way out of the seedy apartment building determined to at least work out some of his stress.

-o0o-

The music pounded and pulsed through his body as he made his way to the bar, ordering a drink as he got there. He sat down on a stool and discretely looked around. He had come to the conclusion that there was only one vamp in this bar. One girl. His best guess was that she was looking for a midnight snack.

It was only a matter of time before she realized he was here. It never took long for a vamp to sniff him out. He was told that when he walked into a room full of people any vampire could easily distinguish him from the rest. But hey it worked both ways.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and he knew that the vapiress was making her way towards him. He didn't turn around but his eyes flashed with determination for a small second.

He felt the vampire right behind him now. An arm reached out from behind him and plopped a tall empty glass down on the bar.

"Hey," a silky voice said in his ear. Dark hair flashed into his peripheral vision making Harry turn his head a bit to the right. At that he got a better look at the girl. She had dead straight long black hair. She had black eye makeup with dark burgundy lipstick.

"Buy a girl a drink?" she asked, eyeing him seductively.

"You're no girl," Harry replied simply, taking a good gulp of his drink.

"So how about a dance?" she asked in that same seductive voice but Harry wasn't falling for it. She looked like she'd been in her mid-20's when she'd been turned. However long ago that was.

"Sorry honey but I was just leaving," he replied and to prove his point the finished off his own drink and stood up.

"...aww but you just got here," she pouted running a finger down Harry's chest.

"Maybe some other time," he said it showing clearly in his voice that it was a double meaning.

With that said Harry headed back outside. Extremely grateful for the fresh air he took a deep breath and, completely contradicting himself, he pulled out a smoke and lit it up. He noticed there was still a line outside the entrance to the club so he made his way around the corner to a deserted back alley.

He was leaning against a wall blowing smoke out of his mouth when he realized he wasn't alone. Silently cursing himself for not noticing her approach, he turned to look at the girl. She was standing about four feet from him with her arms crossed.

"Thought you were leaving?" she asked with a smirk.

"I was; decided this place looked more fun," he said mirroring her smirk back.

"That's too bad," she said closing the gap between them with swift silent steps.

He knew she _knew_ who he was but he decided to play dumb anyway. Continuing on with their verbal game.

"I was really looking forward to that dance," she said leaning into him running a slim pale finger along his jaw line. Harry couldn't help the slight shiver that ran up his spine.

But before he could reply he felt the girl tense up. Harry did the same thing. She took a step back away from Harry no longer smiling seductively.

"I know who you are," she hissed in a low threatening voice.

"Thought so," Harry glared back. The vamp didn't utter a reply just curled her fingers into a fist and thrust her arm out at him. He quickly ducked the punch leaving the girl to smack her fist right into the stone wall behind him. The force of the hit left the stone cracked and crumbling. It didn't do a thing to her hand. You just gotta love those vamp improvements for that thing at least.

Harry got back up and let a smug smile grace his lips. The vampire's arm was outstretched an inch above his left shoulder, and her face was a little too close for comfort.

"So you're the Dayshadow," she whispered nonchalantly. She apparently didn't think of him as a threat.

"Who in the world comes up with these ridiculous nicknames?" Harry asked bewildered. Seriously it was annoying to no end.

"That's not what I would be worried about if I were you," she said mischievously. Harry noticed that glint in her eyes. She knew something he didn't. Harry didn't reply back. Deciding she was way too close to him, he thrust his arm out. His palm was open as he hit her in the chest sending her flying backwards. Her back crashed in to the opposite wall and she let out a cry. She landed gracefully in a crouched position on the pavement.

Well. That was new. He hadn't seen one of the vamps do that before. She must be an older model.

She lifted her head up and Harry was surprised to she that she was smiling at him, there was not outrage on her face like he was expecting. What made Harry more confused was that she actually started laughing.

"Oh yes. Voldemort's making big promises. It ought to be interesting, that's for certain." She laughed softly while she slowly stood upright again. _Voldemort? What the hell?_ Harry scowled at her.

"What are you talking about?" he ground out.

"Hogwarts student are you not?" She asked innocently. _How...? _He felt all his muscles tighten up and his eyes widen and she must have noticed because she smiled victoriously. "We know who you are... Harry Potter." She once again smiled victoriously at Harry before taking off at a run. Away from the fight.

Harry stood there utterly shocked and confused, letting the vamp take off. _How the hell do they know who I am? What the hell was she talking about? And what the bloody hell does Voldemort have to do with this? _His brain was working a mile a minute trying to come up with the answers that weren't there.

He started walking away still in a daze. _This is seriously screwed up_. He just didn't get it. _Looks like it's not just rumors anymore that the vampires are siding with Voldemort in this war. But how does that explain how they found out my real name?_ Frustrated with the lack of information, Harry lashed out and punched the wall. Effectively making his knuckles bleed and solving nothing.

Harry sucked on his bleeding knuckles, and with the other hand he dug into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone to check the time. He only killed off almost two hours of night.

It was a better time then any to sneak back into Hogwarts he would just take his time getting there, try and work out his thoughts.

I couldn't screw my life up more if I tried.

-o0o-

Hope you like it!

Chapter 7: Harry gets back to Hogwarts and more trouble follows. "I knew it! I totally jinxed myself"….

Peace\\//


	7. A Question mark?

Undead Secrets 

Disclaimer: (sigh) if only I owned Harry Potter and co.

A/N: Okay, so maybe its just me, but I have no clue how to change chapter names... Ya I kinda messed up the first time I posted this chapter, so now the title is all weird and I cant change it back! Bahh! (sighs) all well.

Anyway... hope you like it!... um... the chapter that is. Just ignore the title (smiles)

**Chapter 7: A What's Going On?**

-o0o-

_The room was small and dark. Shadows flickered across the walls from the many candles floating in the room. There were no windows: just bare stone walls. It was a basement of some sort._

_A cluttered desk sat to one side, two plush chairs sat opposite each other beside a blackened fireplace. The fire was dying out giving the room an even gloomier, depressing atmosphere than most basements possessed._

_"What news?" a deep voice commanded, breaking the unnerving silence._

_"I met with him." it was a woman's voice, soft and sexy. "You were right of course, he is at Hogwarts. Pity. I thought his travels would have taken him to Durmstang."_

_"Never doubt me, vampire."_

_"Hmm," she hummed._

_He couldn't see them, just hear them. Then he caught a glimpse of black hair. A girl walked into his line of sight, the first thing he noticed was that she was deathly pale, unnaturally so. If he were to describe her it would be that she had a dark beauty about her._

_"…and..." the voice was demanding again. "I am not a patient person."_

_"I will keep my end of the bargain, I have already sent out word, once we are ready I'll get you into your precious school." She smirked showing of pointed teeth that glinted in the shadows, "But... what you must remember, Lord Voldemort," she hissed the name, "is that we are only doing this to get the boy."_

_"Ahh yes, this Dayshadow, I am looking forward to seeing what he is truly capable of."_

_"What of the potion?" she asked urgently._

_"It was a success. Any time you wish it, you can draw him out in the open, let the wizarding see him for what he truly is. Turn his friends against him... then maybe he will step to my side."_

_"No!" she hissed. "The Dayshadow has done nothing but murder my people. _We_ have plans for him."_

_"We will have the pleasure of draining him dry," insinuated another vampire._

_The vampiress looked back and frowned. "Mind your place, Mal. You are here as a courtesy, nothing more. I am in charge of this operation. And I want the Dayshadow… alive!"_

alive 

He bolted up, back stiff and panting. His blue eyes flicked around in panic mode before he realised that he was in fact still in Hogwarts. Merlin, he hasn't had a vision of Voldemort in so long he almost forgot what it felt like. Which brought him to his next question. Why? His mind should be protected from any attacks. But that wasn't a forced vision, or a fake one, it was real, that much he knew.

Frowning, Neville rubbed his sore eyes and tried to remember exactly what happened in the vision. There was Voldemort and that woman... Who was she? They were talking about something, no someone. He knew it wasn't him, but who was it? Dayshadow. He didn't recognize the name. Then he remembered they said something about Hogwarts, this Dayshadow was here at Hogwarts? They were making plans... plans that had to do with this Dayshadow. They were planning on attacking him. Hang on, if they were going to attack Dayshadow, and if this mysterious person was here... then they were planning on attacking Hogwarts!

Neville vaulted out of bed, stumbling in his haste. He had to tell Professor Dumbledore.

-o0o-

It was around four thirty, five in the morning by the time Harry slumped back in to Hogwarts. He took his time coming back simply because he had way too much on his mind.

So much for working out his stress. Harry snorted at himself.

Yeah, cause that worked out so well.

All his dorm mates were still sleeping, although, he noticed that Neville was sleeping a little fitfully, having a nightmare.

And that's why I don't sleep that often. Thank you very much.

He silently made his way across the room towards the bathroom. When he got there he shut the door and immediately jumped in the shower. Letting the steaming beads of water relax his tense muscles, he closed his eyes and slowly tried to fill in the missing pieces. But it was useless; his life was like a friggin' jigsaw puzzle. Harry sighed and scrubbed his hair clean. He was back at Hogwarts, he wasn't going to worry about it till later. He would get his answers this weekend when he snuck out again.

Turning the water off and wrapping a fluffy white towel around his waist he cursed. He left his robes out in the dorm.

Still grumbling to himself he wrenched open the door intending to go to his trunk. But he stopped when he saw Neville gasp and sit straight up.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise as he watched Neville scramble out of bed and run out the door.

Well that was weird...

-o0o-

Neville ran full tilt in the direction of Professor Dumbledore's office.

He was panicking and he knew it. Hogwarts, Hogwarts was by far the best thing that ever happened to him, he couldn't just sit by and not say anything. Merlin it might not even be true. But if it was he was going to let it happen, he wouldn't.

He skidded to a halt in front of the Gargoyle, guarding the entrance to the headmaster's office.

"The password," he groaned, he didn't know the password!

"Look, could you just let me in... this is important!" the gargoyle must have sensed the urgency because as soon as Neville said that it sprang aside for him.

He stood, eyebrows disappearing into his hair line, dumbfounded. A split second later he was running up the stairs and pounded on the door.

"Dumbledore?!" he called hoping the headmaster would be awake.

Another five seconds later, he lost that tiny piece of patience he had left and burst through the door. He got two steps into the office before he stopped. It was dead quite. The only source of light was a small candle sitting on the headmaster's desk. Surely Dumbledore would have been here. He was always here. Neville walked up to the desk and it was there that he noticed Fawkes was gone, the beautiful bird wasn't asleep on its perch like it always was.

If Fawkes is gone that must mean that Professor Dumbledore is gone too.

Neville sighed and smacked himself on the forehead. The order was having a meeting! He cursed his stupidity and slumped down on the plush chair in front of the desk.

Hang on... The sun was almost up... Surely the Order wouldn't be in a meeting all night. Unless Dumbledore had already gotten a tip about Hogwarts. Neville nearly ripped his hair out, he hated not knowing what was going on.

"Neville?"

The voice startled Neville so much that he literally fell out of the chair he was sitting in with an undignified grunt.

He was on his feet a nanosecond later. He whipped around and whispered a relieved, "Professor... "

-o0o-

Harry sat at breakfast, toying with his food. He wasn't in the mood to eat. Again.

He looked over and noticed that Ron, Hermione and Neville were seated down at the other end of the table. He really should apologize; he kind of overreacted a bit. Even though a part of his mind was screaming at him that friends were overrated he did like the prospect of having them, and besides they were being genuinely nice to him.

They only want to be friends.

But what if they are really just trying to find out your secret and use it against you.

Harry shook his head and almost laughed out loud. Where the hell did that thought come from? Maybe he was slightly out of his mind.

How do you know you're out of your mind? Maybe you only think you are, so then you're really not, unless of course you really are. And then you'd never know because you're out of your bloody mind.

Quiet you.

He started when he felt something tapping him on the shoulder. He tilted his head back and almost groaned. Professor McGonagall was looking down at him with a stern expression.

"Mr. Potter, the Headmaster wishes to see you." Harry flipped around so he was facing the deputy headmistress. "Now, Mr. Potter," she said sternly. Harry's shoulders slumped for a second before he took a deep breath and straightened himself out.

"Alright," he nodded, not bothering to give his breakfast food another glance. He'd need to ask the elves to supply him with some cold pizza for breakfast tomorrow. All this healthy food was a little… weird.

-o0o-

"I have it on good confidence that you left the castle altogether yesterday afternoon, Mr. Potter." Harry refused to meet the man's eye. Something in him told him that it would be a bad idea to do that. It was the same with Snape. Don't look him in the eye. When Harry had been a first year, he'd been in Potions and started to look the man in the eye only the hairs on his neck stiffened and he knew something was off. An attack of some sort. As soon as he put his head down to start planning a way out of it, the sensation let off. Since then, avoiding eye contact with him had been the name of the game.

Now, it was similar with the Headmaster. Great. Another adversary.

He was sitting in front of the Headmaster in his office. He had never been in his office before and if he knew he wasn't in so much trouble he probably would have snooped around a bit. But be that as it may, his eyes were firmly planted on the floor. Besides, Dumbledore had some sort of freaky ability to know when a person was lying or telling the truth, or so he'd overheard rumor. Probably had to do with looking into his eyes.

He hated to say it but he was regretting his actions.

"I went for a walk," he said in a small voice, staring at his fingernails. It wasn't a complete lie. He had walked. And run. And fought.

"Regardless, you are going to be serving detention on Saturday morning with Mr. Filch," Professor Dumbledore said in a tone of finality as he gathered up all the loose parchments on his desk.

"Saturday?" Harry whispered. Oh for the love of a... why oh why did he decide to leave? He knew ditching school was going to come back and bite him in the ass.

"Is there a problem Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore was peering at him through his half moon spectacles. He seemed honestly curious.

"No sir," Harry ground out, forcing a smile on his face he stood up and headed out of the Headmaster's office. He briefly wondered why the Headmaster hadn't questioned him on his whereabouts.

Well this is great, just great.

-o0o-

"Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?" Sirius shouted over the hustle and bustle of students getting their things together and pilling out of the defence classroom. Sirius decided that he would tell Harry today, like Remus told him last night, he can't keep putting this off. He just wished he knew how Harry was going to react to the news.

Harry just gave a half hearted grunt in response, he was too lost in his mind to really acknowledge the fact that he was just asked to stay after class for the first time. Well there's a first time for everything. Those firsts seem to be happening a lot lately. But nevertheless he stayed where he was while everybody moved down to the Great Hall for lunch.

His mind kept rewinding and replaying the conversation he had with that whatever the hell her name was vampire. It really was just a bother to get a vamp's name right before he dusted 'em. He had a nagging feeling in the back of his head that last night wasn't going to be the last time he would be seeing that particular vampire.

But if what was said is true, it just made things a whole hell of a lot more complicated.

He stayed seated even after everyone cleared out of the room. He vaguely noted that Professor Lupin wasn't in the room anymore either. If he wasn't so busy concentrating on the problem in his head then he might have been a little nervous about being in the same room as Professor Black, alone. Harry blinked as he realised that he was in the room alone with Professor Black. Said Professor was standing at the front of the room. He was staring at the floor chewing on his fingernails.

Why's he so nervous? Harry wondered as he stood and made his way to the front, now a little wary. He visualized a quick escape if it came to it. His eyes darted around to see if anyone was going to pop out with a nasty surprise.

Professor Black looked up when Harry approached, but he didn't look Harry in the eye. He cleared his throat. "Hey... uh Harry... do you mind if I call you Harry?" he asked in a small voice.

Harry just shook his head. "No, s'alright."

"Well I kind of wanted to talk to about something," he stated in that small voice again refusing to look Harry in the eye. "Something important."

By now Harry had no idea what he was supposed to say since he got the feeling this confrontation wasn't exactly about his schoolwork, so he just nodded his head.

"You probably didn't know this but I knew your parents; I was your dad's best mate all through our Hogwarts years," he smiled. His eyes got a faraway look in them, like he was remembering his own Hogwarts days. "I was even best man at their wedding."

At the mention of his parents, Harry's ears perked up a bit. He never knew a whole lot about his parents - just that they were top aurors and how they died. Besides he had read that in a book. He couldn't deny that there was a tiny part of him that craved for that knowledge. He did secretly want to know who his parents were. What were they like? When did they get married? What was their favourite colour? Anything, like personal information that wasn't in any book that he read.

_Oh oops... Professor Black was still talking. _Harry mentally smacked himself in the head for zoning out like that. Blinking he pulled his concentration back to what Professor Black was saying.

"... and well you see before Lily and James... died... they made me your... uh..." Sirius took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm your godfather, Harry," he finished.

Harry froze.

Wait... what?

He was staring wide eyed at his newest defence professor.

Sirius Black is my freakin' Godfather?! Did I just hear that right?

"Look Harry... I wanted to tell you sooner. I can understand how you must be feeling right now and I just want you to know that I'm not asking you to move in with me or anything. You probably already have a nice family taking care of you, but I would like to be your friend. If that's okay with you?" Sirius finally got the guts to look up at Harry only to find him looking utterly gob smacked. His eyes were wide and his lips were parted. Sirius would have to remember that look for later on, since now wasn't exactly the time to be laughing.

There were a couple minutes of awkward silence where Harry continued to stare at his long lost godfather. Now Sirius was getting decidedly nervous.

This has got to be some kind of joke. I swear even Merlin himself has something against me.

"I... uh... I gotta go..." Harry trailed off, not knowing what else to say. He blinked stupidly before turning and walking out of the room. Leaving a very distraught looking Sirius behind.

When the door shut behind him he couldn't help but cry out _"what?"_ in confusion. He couldn't even go through one day, just one day of peace. Merlin, he already had big enough problems to deal with, why not add one more to the list? What had he ever done to piss off the gods this much?! He had gotten used to being on his own, what if this new professor wanted to know about him? His life... his past? Not to mention the fact that he seemed like good friends with Professor Lupin, who already had his suspicions that something wasn't quite right about Harry.

I knew it; I totally jinxed myself!

He walked away looking at his feet. _Next thing I know I'm gonna find out that Professor Snape is my real friggin' father!_ He thought sarcastically before involuntarily shivering at the image. If he was paying attention he would have noticed that he walked past the golden trio, who were looking at him with worried expressions. Three of them all shared a glance with each other prior to running back the way Harry had come.

-o0o-

"Did you tell him?"

"What did he say?"

Hermione sighed; Neville and Ron weren't the most considerate at times.

Sirius stood and watched as Neville, Ron and Hermione smiled hesitantly over at him. Not twenty minutes ago he had told Harry he was his godfather. Then Remus came in to comfort him as he was silently listening in on their conversation, followed by Ron, Hermione and Neville. Who were, by the way, looking at him expectantly.

"Yes, I told him."

Remus couldn't help but feel sorry for his friend. He still looked dazed and confused about what had happened.

"What happened?" Hermione asked kindly as she caught on to the look Sirius had on his face.

"He walked away," he said in a whisper. He turned his head to look at Hermione with a pained expression. "I don't get it – what did I do? I told him and he said he had to go and he just walked away"

"Can't say I blame the guy." Four eyes turned to look at Ron like he grew another head. "What?" he asked blushed slightly at being the center of all four stares.

"Could you repeat that Ron? Don't think we're hearing you right, mate," Neville asked frowning at his best mate.

"Well it's just that it's not every day you find out that _The_ Sirius Black is your godfather," he shrugged.

There were a couple minutes of silence as everyone thought it over.

"He's got point," Hermione said, looking at Sirius sympathetically. "You do have a pretty big reputation."

Sirius blinked at her then sighed defeated. "You're right."

"Just give it time Padfoot, he'll come around," Moony stated confidently squeezing Padfoot's shoulder for comfort. Sirius looked at Moony and gave a small smile.

"Professor Lupin is right, let him come to you Padfoot," Hermione gave him a warm smile. Good old Hermione, she really was too smart for her own good.

He just had to give it some time.

-o0o-

Well, another one bites the dust... Hope you like it!

...reviews are always nice too...

Peace\//


	8. A Time For Caution

Undead Secrets 

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, well besides a cat, a dog, my computer, clothes, shoes….. You get the point.

A/N: Alrighty, heres the new and improved chapter eight. Once again, not alot changed but the classroom scene as been extended!

Thanks for all the review I got for this chapter too!

You guys make me all happy inside!

**Chapter 8 A Time For Caution**

-o0o-

Neville yawned. He was up almost all night, he barely got any sleep at all. When he went to Dumbledore the other night to tell him about what he had seen, he wasn't all that surprised to find out that the headmaster had already had his suspicions about an attack.

What really had him floored was something else that Dumbledore had asked of him.

Flashback

"What's going to happen?" Neville had asked knowing that he wasn't going to get all the answers that he wanted or needed.

"Neville m'boy," Dumbledore sighed heavily as he took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. "You are seventeen now, an adult and you have full right to make your own decisions. Though that never stopped you before," he let a weary chuckle escape his lips while he put his glasses back on and looked Neville straight in the eye.

"That is why I am inviting you to join the order."

"What you must remember is that these are dark times and they are only getting darker. Joining the order is a big step into the future and you have to be sure this is what you want." Dumbledore had looked at him sharply.

It was a look that Neville had never seen before and for once he was wondering whether he wanted do it or not. Oh, who was he kidding; of course he did.

"There is another meeting tomorrow night; come to me after dinner at tell me your answer. Though I daresay I already know what your answer is going to be," his twinkling eyes dimmed somewhat but he still gave a warm smile as he dismissed Neville. "Oh, and Neville," Neville stopped just before the doorway and turned back to look at Dumbledore. "You may invite Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger too, if they are up for it."

End Flashback

Neville's jaw had dropped. He was going to be allowed in the Order of the Phoenix. The very order he had been trying to get into since he had found out about its existence. _Finally._

So last night the trio had made their way to Dumbledore's office just after dinner. But they had walked slowly. All three had been downright excited about being let into the Order, but as they made their way to the office it just wasn't like they imagined. It was like they were suddenly hit with the reality of the situation. Joining the Order of Phoenix was dangerous and it would put them in even more unnecessary danger. Was it really worth it? All three of them thought so but that didn't stop them from feeling nervous about it.

When they got to the office, Dumbledore went over everything with them, what was required of them and what to expect. All that was missing was the secret handshake. The meeting was just a debriefing for the three of them. They were just going to go over everything and get caught up with what's been going on.

So with that they went straight to the noble and most ancient house of Black, secretly known as the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix.

The Night Before

Phoenix Meeting

The kitchen was full but not crowded. This wasn't a full order meeting, only a select few were there. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, Mundungus Fletcher, Kingsley Shackelbolt, _Minerva McGonagall, the tiny charms professor Fillius Flitwick, and last but not least Snape. The very person Neville did not want to see and seeing how Snape was glaring openly at him, he was not all that pleased to have the trio join the Order. _

Molly Weasley did not look all that happy about Ron joining the Order too, or Neville and Hermione for that matter. But really who could blame her? Almost all her family was in the order; she would never forgive herself if something had happened to her children. Her only daughter was the only one not in the Order and she promised herself that no matter how much begging and pleading on her daughter's part, she would not allow her in until she was 17. It was best that she didn't even know that her brother was joining too. She was teary eyed as she clutched her husband's hand and watched Neville, Ron, and Hermione stand before Dumbledore preparing to take an oath of secrecy.

"Are you prepared to swear on your magic that you will not repeat anything you hear in this room? This is your last chance, after tonight there is no backing out," Dumbledore told all three of them dead seriously. When all three nodded their heads he continued. "Then I will ask Neville to step forward first."

Neville took two steps forward so he was standing directly in front of Dumbledore. He stood up straight and looked at Dumbledore determined and confident.

"Do you swear on your magic, Neville Longbottom, that you will not repeat anything said in this room to anyone not inducted in this order?"

He said it strongly and loudly for everyone to hear as he stuck his hand out for Neville to shake. Neville grasped his hand firmly and replied.

"I, Neville Longbottom, son to Frank and Alice Longbottom, do herby swear on my very magic that I will uphold a code a secrecy and not repeat anything I hear or say in this room to anyone but to those already inducted in this Order." The clasped hands glowed an earthy green throughout Neville's speech. The glow died out when he finished talking.

"Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Neville," Dumbledore stated, clapping him on the shoulder. Neville smiled brightly and took a seat beside Sirius, who immediately ruffled Neville's hair as soon as he sat down.

Neville watched as Ron stepped forward next.

"Do you swear on your magic, Ronald Weasley, that you will not repeat anything said in this room to anyone not inducted in this Order?"

"I, Ronald Weasley, son to Arthur and Molly Weasley, do herby swear on my very magic that I will uphold a code of secrecy and not repeat anything I hear or say in this room to anyone but to those already inducted in this Order." Ron's voice was firm and he held his head up. When he was finished he was bombarded by his family all hugging him and messing up his hair. He had to duck his head to hide the blush that was creeping up on his face.

When everyone settled down again, it was Hermione's turn. She looked a little shaky and pale but the fire that burned in her chocolate eyes was enough for anyone to know she was determined.

"Do you swear on your magic, Hermione Granger, that you will not repeat anything said in this room to anyone not inducted in this order?"

"I, Hermione Granger, daughter to Janet and Michael Granger, _do herby swear on my magic that I will uphold a code of secrecy and will not repeat anything I hear or say in this room to anyone but those already inducted in this Order," she said proudly. _

"Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione," he replied.

"Now then," Dumbledore clapped his hands together and looked over everyone present in the room. "Let's get started."

Hermione took her a seat beside Neville but found herself blushing when Ron smiled at her. Neville noticed this and started snickering, Hermione elbowed him in the ribs whispering 'shut up Neville' though it didn't have the desired affect because she was smiling too.

, 

Apparently a simple recap of the events that happened so far in the year took most of the night to go over. The three of them had ended up sleeping for a couple hours at Padfoot's house. Then abruptly woken and brought back to school in the early hours of the morning. They didn't complain though, they were still dizzy and excited from all the information that was pushed into their heads last night.

They all sat at breakfast and Neville couldn't help to silly grin that fitted itself on his face while he goofed off with Ron.

But they both turned serious when Hermione leaned in and asked, "Do you think that this Slayer is going to know who this Dayshadow person is?" Her voice was low enough that you needed to be right beside her to hear what she had said. She was worried, they all were. They had been told that the Order had sent countless owls out looking for the slayer because of the recent vampire migration, as Padfoot liked to call it. It meant that there were an increasing number of vampire attacks going on in London. The slayer had finally sent a letter back after about 50 were sent out, telling the sender that she would meet them by the end of the week.

"I just wonder who it could be. If he's here then it can't be that hard to spot him."

"Why would this guy be at Hogwarts though? Dumbledore said that he's got to be older..." Ron was interrupted by Neville who stomped on his foot. "Ouch," he hissed at Neville, "what the bloody hell was that for?" He stopped when he noticed that Neville had turned in his seat and was looking kind of uncomfortable. Ron, curious to see what the deal was, also turned and noticed Harry standing a couple feet from them looking just as uncomfortable.

"Uh... hey, Harry," Hermione started breaking the silence.

"Hey," Harry replied. He rubbed the back of his neck looking as if he was trying to say something else.

-o0o-

_You can do this,_ Harry kept telling himself repeatedly. He spent all day yesterday hating the world and glaring at anybody who dared to look at him. And really, who could blame him, his world was turned upside down in one day. So this morning when he woke up he decided he would make amends with Ron, Hermione and Neville. Truthfully, he did like it when they hung out with him. Even though he didn't talk that much, except for the normal one word answers he like having them around chatting about school and whatnot.

So as Harry was on his way down to breakfast he couldn't help but feel nervous. It freaked him out a little bit.

When was the last time I got this nervous?

What surprised him was that Ron and Neville were already up and gone when Harry woke up. This was odd seeing how those two guys were usually the last ones up in the morning.

The Great Hall was about half full when Harry walked in. He scanned the Gryffindor table and spotted the three sitting at the far end by the staff table. Harry could have sworn his heart stopped for a second. They were all smiling and laughing.

Bloody hell, what am I doing? I should just leave them alone.

Who am I kidding anyway, they don't want to be my friends.

Harry stood in the entrance fiddling with his book bag.

Least I can do is say sorry.

Yeah, that's what I'll do, just walk _up and apologize and then leave them alone._

He took a deep breath and started to walk towards them, with each step it made him more and more nervous. It took all his self control to keep moving forward and not turning around and running right out of the great hall.

He could here them talking quietly, his advanced hearing picked up on what they were saying.

"… slayer is…"

"…wonder who…"

"why…..Dumbledore said that he's got to be older…"

Huh?

He didn't mean to listen in, but when he heard the word slayer he got curious. Which just made him more confused. They were talking so low that Harry had to cheat and use is enhanced hearing but he only caught the last couple words. What the hell were they just talking about? With a start he realized that he was only two steps away from them now.

Okay think on it later right now just do what you came to do.

Shifting his weight from foot to foot, he tried to think of something to say. But was saved the trouble as Hermione and Neville noticed him standing behind them at the same time. Harry noticed Neville stomp on Ron's foot.

"Ouch," Ron hissed, "what the bloody hell was that for?" But he stopped when he noticed Harry standing there. Harry could have laughed right then. Ron's face went from angry to puzzled and then to perplexed when looked at Harry, all in one second. He wouldn't admit it out loud but Harry found it oddly fascinating that he was able to catch those emotions. But back to the problem at hand, he should really say something right about now.

"Uh... hey, Harry," Hermione asked confused.

"Hey," he slipped his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it nervously. He looked at all three and was sorely tempted to turn around and run. He could too; sure they might think he was slightly crazy, if they didn't already, but at least he wouldn't be feeling so small and insignificant under the sheer force of all three stares.

"I... uh... I just wanted... um... To... um..." _Get it together Harry! This is ridiculous_! That little voice was screaming at him to get a grip and just this once decided to listen to it. He did sound ridiculous. Harry clenched his jaw and took a deep breath, rolling his eyes upward.

"Look," he started again sounding like a completely different person. "I just wanted to say sorry for the way I acted towards you three these past days." Harry nodded his head and smiled, mostly to himself because he was satisfied with that apology. Ron and Neville were looking at him like he was completely barmy, Harry didn't blame them though. Hermione, she was looking at him with sparkling eyes and a smile. Seconds ticked by and their expressions stayed the same.

Harry smiled brightly at them (or as brightly as he could since he wasn't used to smiling), straightened his shoulders, stated a quick 'Okay' turned around and walked away from them with a proud bounce in his step. He was really happy he actually went through with it. It wasn't all that hard. There was nothing to it. If this is what having friends were like it couldn't be that bad. Harry was absolutely positive nothing in the world could destroy his happy mood he was in or the wipe the faintly smug smile on his face.

That was until Professor Black walked by him.

Harry's shoulders sagged down and the smug smirk turned into a frown.

Well so much for that….

-o0o-

Harry sat in the in usual seat in the back of the defence classroom. Yesterday all he did was ignore both the professors, but now he was more fidgety then normal.

The classroom was slowly filling up and paid no heed to Harry. He was slightly confused. There was this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach but he couldn't figure out was this strange feeling meant. It wasn't the same feeling that Harry felt when he was around Lupin. He knew that because the teachers weren't even in the room. No, this was different.

Harry was interrupted from his musings when he felt somebody standing beside him. He looked up to see Neville, Ron and Hermione already seating themselves directly in front of him.

"Hey Harry, mind if I sit here?" Neville asked with a smile, gesturing and the seat right beside him.

"Okay," Harry said brightly. He didn't mean to sound so happy about it. One minute he was trying to explain this weird feeling the next a warm fuzzy feeling had spread throughout his body when Neville had asked to sit beside him. Neville didn't even have to, there was still empty seats left in the room. No, Neville actually wanted to sit _with_ him, and not because he had too.

The students were all settled in and waiting for the teachers to show up. Harry was mindlessly flipping through his text book when they did. He looked up and for a brief second his eyes catching with Professor Black's. But the professor had promptly looked away. With a start, Harry realised the foreign feeling he had when he first sat down.

He was... Well he couldn't exactly describe this new feeling.

Harry wanted to talk with Professor Black. He actually wanted to get to know the man. He truly wanted to get to know someone.

And it scared him.

Deflating, he realised that Professor Black was probably more than a little mad at him. He did walk out on the guy. Snatching on to a little hope he thought that maybe, just maybe he could patch things up. He would just have to be extra careful and watch what he said around him.

Frowning, Harry tried to figure out just what to do. As much as he could, he didn't _want _to block this out. He didn't want to just forget about it, like he did with most of his problems.

Deciding he would think on it later, Harry pulled his attention to what Professor Lupin was saying.

"… and because of certain events we," Remus waved a hand towards Sirius, who was looking rather tired, "decided to skip ahead a little in your lessons and go straight to vampires."

Whispers broke out and Harry perked up. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Neville.

This could be interesting.

"So if you all could turn to chapter 18 in your text books." He stopped and waited for everyone to open their books up.

Harry flipped to the right page. He had already read that chapter, with mostly the rest of the book. He'd needed the knowledge years ago. It made him want to laugh. It's not that the book was wrong; no, it was just the information was a little warped when it came to vampires. Well, most books were when it came to that.

"Now, who can tell me the definition of a Vampire?" Professor Lupin asked, and as usual it was Hermione whose hand was first in the air. The Professor chuckled at her while looking for any other takers but when there were none he sighed and nodded at Hermione.

"A vampire by definition is a bloodsucking evil spirit: in European folklore, a dead person believed to rise each night from the grave and suck blood from the living for sustenance."  
(A/N: don't laugh that was actually in the dictionary! lol)

Harry ducked his head to hide the smile that desperately wanted to make itself known.

"Good. Five points to Gryffindor. What would you say is the best way to ward yourself against vampires? Ah... Mr. Thomas?" he said.

Dean sputtered and flipped through his book.

"Um…. A cross?" he guessed.

"That's right, although there is a lot of speculation as to whether a cross actually works or not."

Well not exactly, it all depends on the age, it will work on the younger more weaker vampires, but the older ones are almost immune. Not that Harry was going to make that mistake a second time. Same with holy water and sacred smoke.

Harry amused himself by correcting the mistakes in his head. Its not like he could say it out loud, it would raise suspicion and questions as to how he knew things that probably nobody else knew. He did feel, to some extent, smug about it though.

"Anything else?" Professor Lupin nodded once again to Hermione.

"Well, in the book it states that no vampire can enter a home without being invited," she said while reading through her own book.

Same thing, the older vampires can go in uninvited... It all depends on age. Well that and the born vamps, which are pretty much immune to everything, except silver... And the good old fashioned stake to the heart.

That's pretty much all it came down too: the age of a vampire. The older they were, the more powerful they were. Well that was the simple way of putting it. There was also the fact that there could be younger vampires that were powerful because they were sired by a much older one. Those were rare though. Harry could go into a big long speech about the technicalities of it, how it happens, how it was possible, and all that.

Harry snorted mentally. How is it that nobody else could know about this? Well it sort of made sense, he was in fact the only person that could tell a vampires approximate age just by looking at one. Most of the time. He wasn't that lucky with the last vamp he'd met at the bar.

I_ should write a book_… he mused.

"What about you Mr. Potter?" Harry gave a small jump and looked up. Professor Lupin was looking at him with an unreadable emotion in his eyes.

Oh crap, think Potter, think! he panicked slightly. What should he say? _Oh that's it!_

he panicked slightly. What should he say? 

"Um... garlic," he tried to sound like he was unsure of himself. He remembered back in first year when Professor Quarrel had hid garlic underneath his robes to supposedly ward away vampires. Harry knew garlic was just a big joke when it came to vampires, as did most people.

The class burst out into stifled giggles and whispers. Harry tried to look embarrassed which probably would have worked a little better if he wasn't laughing on the inside.

Professor Lupin raised an eyebrow at Harry, with something akin to amusement in his eyes.

"No Mr. Potter, I'm afraid garlic does not work against vampires," he said to Harry, in good humour, before turning around and walking back to the front.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when his back was turned. He was going to have to watch the Professor more closely because if he was right then Lupin did that on purpose just to see what Harry's answer was going to be.

"Alright, I would like a three foot essay, in chronological order, on the best way to protect yourself from a vampire." The majority of the class groaned. "In the meantime, Professor Black is going to cover spells that do and don't work against vampires."

"Okay, kids," Sirius said, taking over for his colleague. "You've all heard of the Diffindo, and Reducto spells, right? Good. They don't work on vampires, so don't waste your energy. Oh, they'll do something to them, don't get me wrong; mostly push them back for a few minutes before they get back up and come after you. The magic you use is mostly absorbed by them. They can't do anything with it other than refresh their bodies; heal their injuries so to speak.

"Now, you all know the Cistem Aperio, Expelliarmus, Imervius, Immobulus, and Impedimenta right? Any guesses what happens when you use them?"

Hermione's hand went up slower this time.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"They don't work?" she hazarded a guess.

"Correct. Take five points for Gryffindor. Any guesses why?"

Seamus Finnigan raised his hand. After a nod from the professor, he said, "Same reason the others don't? Because they somehow absorb the magic?"

"Got it in one. I am surrounded by geniuses! Take some more points for Gryffindor. How's ten sound to you?"

"Uh… great."

"So what spells do work?" said Blaise Zabini.

"Good question. Truth be told, not many. You go up against a vampire and your best option is to try and talk your way out of situations. Or flee. Anyone not knowing how to apparate might want to learn how just for this reason alone. Some magic does work against them. Usually indirect magic is the best. You in Gryffindor?"

"No. Slytherin," he replied.

"Oh. You want some points too?"

"Sure."

"How's five sound to you?"

"Ten would be better."

"Don't get greedy. Take the four for asking a pertinent question indicating you were paying attention. Now, any questions before we start covering stealth spells?"

"Why do we need to learn stealth spells?" asked Pansy Parkinson.

"You ever try evading a vampire at night? It's a little hard. Therefore, stealth spells. That way if you really want to attack a vampire, you can wait until daylight and then track them down and take them out."

"Take them out? To a club?"

"Well, you can certainly use a club if you want to, but I'd suggest a stake."

"A steak? You mean go out to dinner with one of them? Ugh."

Professor Remus quickly took control of the class before his friend confused the students any more. "I need to discuss some things with Professor Black for a few minutes. Since we still have some time left in the period, feel free to study in groups if you want to cover this material. There's plenty out there."

"But, Remus, I was just about to…" Sirius started.

"Back office. Now," he said in a voice that offered no resistance.

Harry was stunned at the by-play. This had to be one of the most interesting classes he'd ever been in. And all because his godfather had a quick wit. He was wrong about one thing, though. There was plenty of direct magic that worked on vampires. You just had to know how to "use" it. Harry was sure authors of the books on vampires in the library hadn't been involved with any long-term study of ways to remove vampires. More than likely they'd simply had a run in with one and lived to write a book.

With Harry's experience, he could write bookshelves and bookshelves worth of tomes.

-o0o-

A comfortable buzz of conversation filled the Great Hall as everyone sat down and ate supper. Harry was content to just sit and watch and listen to everyone around him.

He looked up at the head table. Dumbledore was busy talking extravagantly with Professor McGonagall. Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout were talking quietly with one another. Snape was being his usual self and glaring at everyone around him. His eyes traveled to Professor Lupin and Professor Black. Professor Lupin was busy talking with Professor Vector, his back was slightly turned. Professor Black was sitting at the end of the table, his shoulders were slumped and his hair was falling ever his eyes. He looked so sad. He lifted his head from his food and ended up looking at Harry. He looked so lonely, he didn't look mad at all. Because of that Harry offered a shy smile. Sirius automatically straightened up and his face split into a huge grin.

Harry couldn't help it; Sirius looked so much like a puppy that finally got some attention that he burst out laughing. Harry was pretty sure that if Professor Black had a tail he would be wagging it right about now.

"Harry, you okay?" a voice interrupted.

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine," he replied to Neville who was looking at him a little oddly. Harry looked back up at the head table to see that Professor Black had elbowed Professor Lupin in the ribs and was now practically bouncing in his seat talking to him.

Harry turned back around, just in time to see a red headed girl sit down next to Ron, who was shamelessly stuffing his face.

"Hey, Ron, you got any extra Quills I could borrow? All mine are busted," the red headed girl asked. Harry guessed that if the red hair was anything to go by, this girl was Ron's sister. The girl looked mildly disgusted by the way her brother was eating.

Ron merely grunted something at her while continuing to eat. The girl sighed and shared a look with Hermione.

"Here, Ginny, I think I got a couple extra in my bag," Hermione replied while she dug around in her book bag.

"Thanks Hermione you're a lifesaver," the girl, Ginny, said. She looked over at Neville and nodded a hello to him. But when she looked at Harry she frowned. She opened her mouth to say something Neville beat her to it.

"Hey, Ginny, I don't think you met Harry yet. Ginny this is Harry Potter, Harry meet Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister." She looked a little peeved at being introduced as Ron's _little_ sister but nevertheless she stuck her hand out.

"Hi," she said with a smile and a glare over at Neville and Ron, who was still to busy eating.

"Hey." He shook her hand and smiled at her. She was pretty, her hair went down to about her mid back, and she had pouty lips with large hazel eyes that sparkled mischievously. For a moment they both just stared at each other. Harry felt a little uneasy… those eyes… it felt like they were looking down into his very soul. A shiver went up his spine, her eyes looked glazed over. Something wasn't right.

She let his hand go with a gasp. Ginny blinked her eyes furiously like she suddenly got blinded by a bright light.

"Are you…" Harry was about to ask but was interrupted.

"I found them!" someone said triumphantly, Hermione popped back into view, her face a little flushed. "Here, Ginny," Hermione outstretched her hand which held three quills, completely oblivious to what just happened.

"Uh... thanks, Hermione," Ginny said looking a little flustered as she grabbed the offered quills. She stood up and rubbed her hands down her robes. "Well I should be going."

She smiled at everyone but Harry could tell it was forced. Her eyes skittered over to Harry but she didn't look him in the eye again. "It was nice meeting you, Harry," she said in almost a whisper before she turned heel and left. No, there was something definitely different about that girl.

Harry frowned at her retreating back.

What was that all about?

-o0o-

Harry flopped down on his bed. Today was a weird day, he decided. He had made up with Neville, Ron and Hermione. He even hung out with them all day. Something that made him feel like a giddy twelve year old girl, but he didn't mind. He had actually started to relax around the three friends.

It also made him worried too. He shouldn't be letting his guard down so easily, but he couldn't help it. He was happy when he was around them. Maybe, when he got to know them better he could tell them, tell them everything.

"_No,"_ he said forcefully to himself. He could not do that. It was bad enough that Lupin was already breathing down his neck.

He frowned as he recalled what had happened at dinner.

Ginny. Ginny was a strange girl. It just made him confused thinking about the way she had acted towards him. It was strange. That was all he could think of to explain it.

Another thing that was weird was that Neville, Ron and Hermione had disappeared right after dinner, saying something about talking with Dumbledore. They were still gone though. Dinner had ending over four hours ago.

Harry couldn't sleep. His head was practically drowning in questions. He needed to get out but he knew he couldn't he was being watched too closely. By leaving during the day he had drawn unwanted attention towards himself, especially by Dumbledore. He didn't know how, but he had a feeling that the old man was now watching him more closely. Harry was still kicking himself in the ass for that too. He never should have left. If he hadn't then he would be able to sneak out this weekend, instead he now had to spend all day on Saturday, with Filch most likely cleaning the trophy room.

Harry got up and stretched, he had a feeling he wasn't going to sleep and time soon. He got down on the ground and started doing push ups. Maybe he could sneak out….

No, now is not the time. He couldn't afford to slip up, not now.

-o0o-

Hope you like it!!!

Peace\//


	9. A Deal To Be Made Pt 1

Undead Secrets

Disclaimer: Same thing, don't own, don't sue.

A/N: So this took forever, hope the length makes up for it... just got this back from my Beta. **Steve2.**

That's right, I have a Beta! I feel all important... and ... stuff... (grins)

Just to clear up some things... this story is NOT Harry/Ginny! I repeat this is not a Harry/Ginny ship. Sorry if the last chapter gave off that Harry/Ginny... ish feel, I didn't mean for it to come out like that, it will be explained better in this chapter.

As for how powerful Harry is? Magic isn't a huge part in Harry life at the moment but more will be explained in a couple chapters, (when everyone finds out who he really is)

So enough with my rambling, you all probably aren't reading this, but if you are go right ahead and read on!

**Chapter 9: A Deal to be Made Part 1**

o0o0o

It had been a week since Neville had his vision of Voldemort and it seemed that instead of taking steps forward, everyone was taking one big giant step back. It was not helping for anyone's mood.

"It's impossible; we know everyone in that school!" Minerva practically yelled aggravated. "We can't even be sure that he or she is even in Hogwarts."

The Order members present were wracking their brains over what Albus had shown them. Everyone finally had a chance to see Neville's vision thanks to Dumbledore's ever-handy pensieve and it seemed that the only logical step they could take right now was to find the Dayshadow. Any foe of the vampire community and Voldemort had to be a potential ally. However, it didn't help that the Slayer had contacted them at the last minute, saying she wouldn't be able to meet with them for at least another week.

Neville felt they should be doing more. It was getting on his nerves that all they were able to do was sit in a room and talk about it. And the slayer! Don't even get him started on the slayer; she was supposed to have been here last week! Instead she just blew them off without even so much as an excuse. Neville halted that train of thought. What was he thinking? She was the slayer; of course she probably had more pressing matters to attend to. Probably had to get rid of some vampires. He sighed, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at this girl whom he never even met before; Hogwarts was in danger and nobody seemed to have any answers.

"Yes, that is true, but given the circumstances, we have to be prepared," Dumbledore said calmly. "Now since we know that it can't be any of the professors, it's time to look at the students." He looked pointedly at the professors and the three students present.

"What?" the majority of them chorused.

"You can't possibly believe that it's a student, Albus."

"As much as it pains me to admit it, yes I do. We must remember that it is not out of the realm of possibilities. Even I do not know what the majority of my students' home lives are like."

"Headmaster," Hermione started, "do you have any idea what is so special about the Dayshadow? If it is a student we are looking for, perhaps knowing something about this person will help us determine who they are."

"I had the same thoughts myself, Miss Granger. I asked Alastor here to find out anything he could on this Dayshadow from his contacts. Alastor?"

The grizzled auror stood up and walked to the front of the room, constantly looking around for a sign of attack. Standing next to Dumbledore's desk, he tipped a portrait to see if any enemies were behind it. Seeing none, he looked back at his 'colleagues'. "After running down several sources, all I have now is rumor. In the vampire community there are beings known as day-walkers. There are only a couple of these in the world – they are muggles bitten or otherwise infected who never turned for some reason or another. They hunt vampires. Strangely enough, many vamp leaders don't consider it imperative to kill them unless they get too close to their own 'families'."

"Why not?" Sirius asked. "I mean, why don't they kill them while they are still inexperienced?"

"Couple reasons. For one thing, they don't know who they are until after they're somewhat trained and already starting to kill vamps. But the biggest reason I've heard is that they provide a valuable resource to the vamp elders by essentially culling the vamp herds of the weaker megalomaniacs. Sometimes, the born-vamps even finance these day-walkers just to get rid of the competition.

"However, this 'Dayshadow' is not a day-walker. I'm not sure what he is only that other vamps consider him an aberration that should never have happened. My personal feeling is that this is something about a turning gone bad. The vamps have a few strict rules about turnings. One is that you finish the job. The second is that you never turn a wizard or witch. They are to drain them and kill them, not turn them. My guess is that a vamp tried to turn a wizard and didn't finish the job. Now you've got a student between the ages of 16-18 years of age, probably closer to 18, who when he finishes his education will have an arsenal of spells at his disposal and years of hate for vamps."

"You think he's going to stage a war with the vampires?" Minerva asked.

"Yes, I do. My sources say that they've been trying to kill this Dayshadow for nearly 10 years and haven't succeeded yet. The fact that he's still alive says something and it's not saying that the vamps hunting him were stupid. Some were very skilled. The boy you are looking for is better. And he's a killer. He didn't start this war with the vampires, but he'll sure escalate it. Maybe even go after the Hellsome Threesome."

While everyone digested what Moody said, he made his way back to his chair, sat and crossed his peg leg over his real leg. Tapping his fingers on the wooden appendage, he looked straight at Albus. "I don't like vamps. They may be part of the natural order, but they have been getting too big for the past five centuries. This student of yours may or may not succeed in wiping out the H3, but he will definitely thin the vamps and that is a good thing. You find this student and I will help train him in every dirty spell I can think of to get rid of vamps."

A tense silence filled the room as its occupants soaked up the information that they were just given. Could it really be possible? A student? Hunted for 10 years?

"So this Dayshadow may or may not have connections to the vampire community. One thing is certain, they do want him for something. Speculation anyone? Do any students you know of sound like this Dayshadow? Severus?"

"The first name that came to mind is Blaise Zambini. He is sneaky, aloof, keeps to himself mostly, intelligent…"

"You mean, he's a Slytherin," Sirius interjected.

Snape bit back an angry retort. "Yes, he is a Slytherin."

"I don't think so, Severus," Filius opined. "About him being the Dayshadow. I mean, if someone were hunting me for the past 10 years, I'd be a little on edge. Aloof he may be, but he appears relaxed as if in a comfortable surrounding."

"Perhaps he considers Hogwarts safe and can let his guard down," suggested Albus. "After all, I've never heard of any vampire-related activity nearby for decades."

"Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah!" cackled Moody. "That's funny, Albus, really funny. You know why? Because vamps don't cross the wards around Hogwarts, no matter what. A wizard with power keeps them away. That's you. But your power does not go across the Forbidden Forest. And there's plenty of dark creatures in there. And I'm sure the student you are looking for knows that as well."

"Ah, right you are Alastor. Anyone else?"

"How about Draco Malfoy?" Ron suggested. "He fits the killer part."

"Nope," Sirius immediately shot it down. "His head is too far up his pure blooded arse to be the Dayshadow."

"Dereck Lister?" said Neville.

"Who?" answered Ron.

"A 6th year Hufflepuff. He's smart, on edge a lot, doesn't take lip from anyone. I've heard even the Slytherins give him a wide berth. He's got a… temper. He's a possibility."

"As much as I hate to disparage my own house, we may want to also consider Ben Swisteria, a 7th year student," Filius said. "After all, he's a big man, exudes an air of authority around him, is athletic, not as smart as our own Miss Granger, but can hold his own with the rest of his classmates."

"I know of him," Snape sneered. "He doesn't have that killer instinct."

"Why do you say that, Severus?" Albus questioned.

"Simple. He smiles too easily. He hasn't see death up close – the closest he has come to death is looking at ground up potion ingredients."

"We are meeting the slayer tomorrow, maybe she will have a better idea about who this person could be," Hermione asked out loud. Though she seemed to be asking herself rather then the room at large.

"Let us hope. Severus and Remus will be picking her up at seven pm tomorrow night and bring her straight here. Hopefully she will be able to answer some questions."

To be truthful, Neville thought to himself, nobody really expected anything. The slayer usually kept her work across seas. She was more partial to the Americas as that was where the majority of the action was. There hadn't been any major vampire activity for over a decade in Britain. Neville half expected the girl to be just as lost as the Order of the Phoenix was.

Everyone nodded, still a bit curious as to what the slayer was like.

A timid cough interrupted everyone's musings. It was Remus that had grabbed their attention. He was looking at Dumbledore with a thoughtful expression.

"Yes, Remus?" Dumbledore asked inviting the man to share his thoughts.

"Well," he started "it just…" he threw an apologetic look at Sirius. "I think, if I were to take a guess at who this Dayshadow was, I think it could be Harry Potter."

Remus cringed back expectantly. Sadly, he was not disappointed.

"What?!" Hermione.

"Don't be ridiculous, Moony!" Sirius.

"Why on earth would you think that?" Albus.

"Who's Harry Potter?" Minerva.

Various other questions pushed forth. Everyone was looking at Remus with confusion or curiosity. Remus, on the other hand, looked completely lost. He kept turning to whoever was trying to ask a question.

"If you could just…" but his voice was not heard, mostly everyone was talking with each other or arguing. It looked like a fight was about to break out between Sirius and Snape.

"Silence!"

Dumbledore's commanding tone effectively silenced everyone in the room.

"Now," he started again, voice much more softer, "Remus, would you kindly elaborate please."

Remus cleared his throat. There was no backing out now. He felt wrong somehow, like he was betraying his deceased best friend.

"Well," he paused unsure how to explain it. He had already tried to say something to Sirius, but that didn't work out like he planned it to. "It's just that when he's sitting in my class… there's just something different about him. It's really more of a feeling that I get, like he's not entirely human," he tried to explain frowning at the table.

Everyone in the room paused. Neville looked at his professor and confidant. He blinked taken aback. The words kept reverberating inside his head like an echo. 'Not entirely human'. What was that supposed to mean?

"I don't really know how to explain it," Remus sighed. "I'm sure if I could get the chance to sit in a room with him alone, I could be more sure."

"And why is it that now you decide to divulge this information?" Snape sneered. Neville found himself glaring at the man. Actually whenever Snape opened his mouth, Neville found himself automatically glaring at him.

"Shut it, Snivilius," Sirius cut in.

"I do not know for sure, that is all I'm saying," Remus replied effectively stopping any argument that was about to happen.

"What about you?" Ron accused Snape. "You're the spy, shouldn't you know what Voldemort is up to?"

"Do not even attempt to understand it Weasley! I've already read my report!"

"Can we get back on topic please?" Minerva, ever the voice of reason, said.

"Yes, let's," Dumbledore stated. "Now what do we know about Harry potter?"

Most of the Professors present frowned. What did they know about him? Minerva was among them. It took about a minute and yet she could come up with nothing.

"Let's have a look shall we?" Dumbledore said. Taking in their silence with twinkling eyes, he waved his wand and a file appeared in mid-air, landing in front of him with a small plop.

He pulled it closer and opened it. Everyone watched curious and silent.

"Harry Potter, parents James and Lily Potter, died in a death eater attack when he was one, as most of you know. Muggle relatives Petunia and Vernon Dursley didn't want him so he was sent to an orphanage just outside of Surrey." He paused and rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "We will have to get the orphanage records. Here it says nothing about who his foster parents are, just that he left after his ninth year."

"I can go tomorrow, just after classes," Minerva offered.

Dumbledore nodded his consent before continuing. "His marks are about average, nothing extraordinary."

"It seems to be like he is flying just under the radar," Snape said nodding.

Sirius looked at Remus in confusion.

"Honestly, mongrel, take a muggle studies class," Snape snapped at this stupidity. "What I've noticed of him in my class is his potions are normally just under an E level. Just enough so he won't be approached for either doing good or bad."

"That's what it seems like in my classes also," Remus agreed. "I just recently got his essay on vampires marked. When I read it, it was almost like he was purposely holding back."

"Alright," Dumbledore said, filing everything away so not to be forgotten. He then turned his gaze on the three students. "I couldn't help but notice you've started to… ah what's that phrase… uh hang out with Mr. Potter. What can you tell us about him?" he asked

Neville then became painfully aware that all eyes were on him, Ron and Hermione. But he found that he couldn't say anything. It's not that he couldn't, he just didn't want to. That quiet kid with spiky black hair had grown on him. He was a friends and Neville just couldn't say anything. It just seemed like he was almost betraying Harry in a way. Could Harry really be this Dayshadow? It just didn't seem possible. Harry was shy, withdrawn, scared to speak his mind. There was no way this guy could have the whole vampire community after him.

"We don't really know him that well," Hermione eventually said quietly, avoiding everyone's eyes. She realized that neither Ron nor Neville were planning on saying anything any time soon. "He's shy, quiet, a little withdrawn, other than that he doesn't talk a whole lot. He only talks to answer questions, even then, half the time its only yes or no answers." Inside Hermione was a little aggravated with Harry. Why wouldn't he talk? She tried countless times to get him to open up but he would just dodge her questions or just shrug it off. She knew that what was his business what just that: his business – but she couldn't help it if she wanted answers.

"He did skip school on the first day," put in Minerva. "Did you ever find out why that was?" she asked, directing her question towards Albus.

"No, all he had to say about it was that he went for a walk," he replied slightly amused.

"We will have to watch him more closely, but for now, let's not jump to conclusions. Tomorrow we will have more answers," Dumbledore stated as he dismissed the Order.

-o0o-

Harry couldn't sleep. Something was up. He could feel it, and he had learned long ago that when his gut was telling him something, he would do best not to ignore it.

Never had he been stuck at Hogwarts for so long. He had always been sneaking out on weekends. Now though... now wasn't exactly the best time to go sneaking out. He had to stay in last weekend because he had that stupid detention with Filch. What a waste of time! There he was cleaning useless trophies when he could have been out getting answers.

He was restless. So far he had been doing push ups and sit ups, then amused himself by throwing his dagger at various points in the room and right now he was killing for a smoke. He sat there cracking his knuckles debating if he should leave the dormitory or not.

Neville and Ron weren't back yet. They had left with Hermione just after dinner. They seemed to be doing that a lot lately. All they said was that they had to speak with the Headmaster. But what student talks with the Headmaster for four bloody hours, almost every night? Harry was almost positive he knew what they were up too.

With and aggravated sigh he made up his mind.

Screw it.

And with that he got up, grabbed his sweater, smokes and left the dormitory, all without making a single sound.

Quietly making his way downstairs, he saw the common room was devoid of any student. The only sound made was the crackling of the dying fire as Harry made his way silently out the portrait hole.

His feet made no sound had he wound his way up a set of stairs. He kept his senses open in case anyone was nearby. He tasted the air, sensing for anything to tell him someone was close. Nobody was, good. As he reached the top of the astronomy tower he couldn't help but relax under the moonlight. There was something so calming about the dead of night. The unnatural silence it held.

He lit up a smoke and found the tenseness leave his body. Looking up at the stars he closed his eyes and soaked it all in. Almost like someone who was soaking up sunlight.

He was so completely lost in the feeling that he didn't notice someone had silently come up behind him.

-o0o-

"Do you really think it could be him?"

It was Ron that voiced what Neville was thinking. They were on there way back to the Gryffindor common room. It was nearing midnight and all three of them couldn't wait to crawl into bed and go to sleep. So far all three of them had been silent about what had occurred in the order meeting.

"I don't know, Ron." It was the truth and they all knew it.

Lapsing back into silence, Neville contemplated that statement. The truth in it was shocking; they just didn't know. They knew next to nothing about Harry Potter. They had decided to make him their friend for the sole reason being that Harry had no friends. Was that why? Was it because he was the Dayshadow that he had no friends? Why? Neville couldn't believe that Harry was the Dayshadow. It just didn't fit right.

"Doesn't seem like the type does he?" Ron once again voiced the very thought running through his head.

"He doesn't. At all. That's what doesn't make sense."

"It could just be an act," Hermione said.

"Oh come on you don't believe that Hermione," Ron said looking at her in disbelief.

"Yeah, if that's true then Harry is a bloody amazing actor," Neville said. "Everything that he does seems genuine to me."

Hermione sighed, her shoulders slumped down.

"I guess I just want answers," she said as she stared at her feet. But then Ron did something that surprised both Neville and Hermione, he put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"We just gotta be patient," he said nodding his head, fighting off the blush that was creeping up.

Hermione had stiffened when her felt his arm go around her, but despite herself she relaxed and leaned into Ron's body. Oh he was sooo comfy!

Neville grinned at his two best friends. Ron got a wide grin on his face once he felt Hermione lean in and Hermione looked off in the distance with a dreamy expression.

"Please, Ron. When have you been patient for anything?" Neville sent his friend a cheeky grin before picking up his pace so he was walking in front of the two.

"Prat," he heard Ron mumble and Hermione giggle.

"I heard that!" he yelled over his shoulder. He could hear Hermione holding back her laughter. He grinned and started walking like he was all high and mighty, chin up, shoulders back.

Hermione couldn't hold it in anymore she burst out in laughter and beside her Ron did the same thing. Neville could be such a dork sometimes.

-o0o-

A small soft footstep. That was all Harry heard before he acted.

With a flick of his wrist a dagger was in his hand. He whipped around, arm pulled back ready to throw the dagger. He froze, then blinked. Standing before him with wide scared eyes was Ginny Weasley.

Harry deflated a little. He tucked the dagger back in its holster but still watched Ginny guardedly. He never realized how much he was itching for a fight right then. He was in Hogwarts for Merlin's sake! Plus she should know not to sneak up on him.

No, that was unfair, nobody in this school knows it's a bad idea to sneak up on him.

"Sorry," he said shortly. He didn't really care if he said it rudely. He was in a bad mood damn it! His nerves were stretched thin and he really wasn't up for playing polite right now.

"No, it's okay, I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that," Ginny replied. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun and she was standing in her light purple pyjama's.

Damn right you shouldn't have.

Harry didn't reply, just took another long drag from his smoke, not caring what she thought. He turned around and looked out over the massive grounds of Hogwarts. Blanketed in the darkness Harry could make out moving shapes in the Dark Forest, and he could catch the odd glowing eyes here and there.

It sometimes freaked him out that that was what his eyes looked like, if the lighting was right.

His smoke nearly done, he scraped the remains on the stone wall and then flicked it over the side. He hoped Filch enjoyed picking it up. He could feel Ginny walk up to stand beside him. She shuffled her feet nervously. Harry was just about to ask her what she was doing here when she spoke up.

"I kinda wanted to talk to you."

Harry looked over at her, frowning. Ever since they were first introduced, they had ran into each other but never talked. That was fine and all in Harry's opinion, but it was the way she acted around him when she was close. She wouldn't look at him, it was almost like she was scared to, and she always ended up making up some excuse just so she didn't have to be in the same room half the time.

"That's funny. Seems to me like you've been avoiding me," he said as he looked back up at he dark sky. Oh how he wanted that blissful feeling that he felt when he first stepped outside to come back. He needed another smoke.

"I followed you out here," she bluntly admitted.

That statement had Harry snapping around to look right at her. When he did, their eyes met again, and again Harry was pulled into that weird sensation he felt when they first met. He froze; it was like he couldn't move. His thoughts got all muddled together and he found that he couldn't really think of anything like his brain went all foggy.

"What's wrong with you?" she whispered taking a step closer.

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Something was telling him to run.

Harry took another step back. Then he noticed it: her eyes. Her eyes had changed colour. Instead of the normal hazel they were dimmed out, almost like the white of her eyes where seeping in.

"You're different from everyone else," she stated while her eyes were still trained on Harry. She reached out a hand as if to touch him but stopped half way.

"Okay…" he said slowly.

This is freaky, even in my book, this is freaky.

The way she was looking it was as if she wasn't looking at him, but through him. That look in her eyes was gone as quick as it came because she blinked then and her eyes seemed to go back to normal.

"Sorry," she shook her head and looked away from Harry chewing the bottom of her lip.

Harry looked at her, one eyebrow raised, wondering if this girl was off her rocker. She looked up at the sky, looking conflicted. Ginny kept opening her mouth and taking a breath like she was about to say something, only to change her mind. Harry trained his eyes on her; nothing seemed out of the ordinary, she looked normal. So what was she talking about? He reached out his senses, but she was normal, well in the physical sense, and as far as Harry could feel so was her magic but he wasn't that great at sensing magical abilities.

He waited patiently for her to get her head straight. He lit up another one and sucked in a lungful. If she wanted to say something she would, and well, Harry didn't really know what to say in the first place.

"Sorry," she said again. Harry was normally a patient person but this girl was wearing his already thin nerves even thinner.

"Yeah," he snipped. If she noticed he was getting annoyed she didn't say anything about it. Instead she took a deep breathe and let it out slowly.

"When I look people in the eye, I can sort of read their auras. Most of the time I can control it, but with you…. With you it's like diving head first off a cliff, I just get pulled in…"

Pause.

Blink.

"You can read auras?"

"Yeah," she said but she didn't look all that happy about having this ability. If anything she looked a little sad. "Nobody knows, 'cept Madam Pomfry. She's been helping me control it."

Harry was suddenly curious. There was only a small number of wizards and witches that could read auras, that and a few odd ball muggles that most passed off as frauds.

"It started up at the beginning of my second year. I came back and all of the sudden I was seeing clouds of colour instead of people. I got scared and finally went to see the school nurse about it, she's been helping me ever since." She wasn't looking at Harry, and Harry understood why. He could finally understand why she was avoiding him. It didn't bother him at all, it was normal for him to have people skirt around him. But it was nice to know that it wasn't him but Ginny.

"So…" he started slowly trying to find a way to ask. "Why… uh… why me?"

"I don't know, that's what I was going to ask you."

"Well what do you see… when you look at me?"

Wow, never thought I would ask a girl that.

He stared at Ginny, she was pretty and all but he wasn't attracted to her, not in that way. Besides she was seeing that Dean kid. No, Harry didn't plan on being romantically interested in anyone anytime soon. Well there was that little bit of him being undead and the fact that him having a girlfriend seemed like an absurd idea.

"A person's aura," she interrupted his train of thought, "it's like a cloud. Now this cloud has no particular shape, it's like flowing shades of colours." She stated this almost like she was reading out of a book, which she had probably memorized. "The colours are how you can tell what type of person they are, their magical ability, like if they are an animagus, a werewolf, potential and all that. Those are the base colours, they never change, and they always stay in the same spot. You can usually gage how a person is feeling by the colours, like if they are angry a deep red will start pumping through the cloud." She stopped and glanced over at Harry to see if he was following her.

"What? Like a mood ring?" he asked. It was making sense to him.

"Yes, like a mood ring," she smiled. "But yours, yours is different from anything else that I've ever seen."

Harry was pretty sure why that was. What else could it be? He wasn't normal… at all.

"You have black wisps of smoke flowing through yours. I can tell it's been there for a while but it's not supposed to be there, and when I look in your eyes I just get sucked in, I don't mean too, it just happens."

Harry flicked his smoke over the edge and contemplated about what he just heard. It wasn't all that surprising, of course there would be something screwed up with his aura. Everything else about him was pretty much screwed up.

"Well, sorry but I can't help you out, I have no idea why that would be."

Ginny just nodded her head like she was expecting that answer.

-o0o-

When Harry got back to the dorm rooms it was already the early hours of the morning. He noticed right away that Ron and Neville were back in their perspective beds, sound asleep. He was more than a little suspicious of them staying out late, but for now he wasn't going to say anything, just pretend like he doesn't notice a thing.

He was a little nervous about the Weasley girl, but he knew she wasn't going to be telling anybody what she had seen in him. She did say that nobody but the school nurse knew about her. He was just a tad bit worried that she was going to try and figure him out.

He jumped in the shower and his thoughts slowly drifted to Sirius Black. His thoughts were meticulously conflicted. He didn't want to get too close to Sirius for fear of what they guy might find out, but dammit, he was curious about him. He was his godfather after all.

He was nervous and a little leery about Sirius Black, he could admit that about himself at least. But he should at least talk to him.

Although he would never admit it to himself, Harry wanted to have somebody in his life that he could confide in. Someone to just simply talk to.

-o0o-

"I need your help," Harry stated bluntly, he figured he had better get it out now before he changed his mind… again.

"What?" Hermione asked. He had effectively grabbed the attention of Neville, Ron and Hermione, who were sitting in the great hall eating their breakfast.

"I was wondering… I sort of need your help with something," Harry said as he looked at the three of them. They gazed at him with curious expressions. They seemed eager too, a little too eager. But before Harry could think on it any more, Hermione jumped in.

"Yeah, sure anything, Harry."

Harry cleared his throat, a tiny part of him unnerved at their reactions but nevertheless he concentrated on the matter at hand.

"Well, it's just that I noticed that you guys seemed kind of close to Professor Black," he watched as all three nodded in turn and continued. "And I just wanted to know what you thought of him?"

They stayed silent for a time. On one hand Harry could have just stayed silent and not reached out for advice or, dare he say it, _help_, seeing how he normally would have pushed it away and forgot about it, taking his frustrations out in a fight. But he knew that wouldn't be happening anytime soon, so in the end his curiosity had won out.

He should have been angry at the man. The fact was there that he had betrayed his parents, sold them out to the death eaters, while Voldemort was busy at the Longbottoms. The plan had worked out in the end. While everyone was busy at the Longbottoms, where chaos had erupted, there was no one to answer the call of help to the Potters.

But then, not too long ago it was revealed that Sirius Black was framed by one Peter Pettigrew. Harry didn't know who the man was, for all he knew the guy was supposed to be dead at the hands of Black.

Then there was the fact that Black was in prison so he could not take care of Harry when he was just a child. It made him a little bitter thinking how things could have turned out if Sirius Black was never framed at all. Would his life be normal? Would he be sitting here worrying over school grades, girls, his looks? Those problems seemed so surreal, so bogus to Harry that he practically scoffed at he idea of them.

Harry couldn't really blame the guy though. His life ranked up there next to Harry's. He honestly felt a little pity too. Professor Black had said that he just wanted to be friends, and what Harry realised prior to asking for a little help was that he too, wanted to be friends with the man. He just wanted to make sure the man wasn't some weirdo, stalker… guy. Okay so maybe not, maybe he was just looking for a little reassurance.

He didn't know the man so he didn't exactly have the right to judge him, and Professor Lupin for that matter.

"Oh yeah, Professor Black is a great guy," Ron said after a second.

"Yeah you'll like him a lot!" Neville jumped in.

"Once you get to know him, he really is an awfully sweet person," said Hermione.

All three of them were looking at Harry with bright, beaming smiles. Harry just looked at them weirdly. So maybe this was not what he was totally expecting. He then narrowed his eyes at all of them. They knew something.

"You know don't you?" he accused looking all of them dead in the eye, reading their reactions. Ron's eyes widened a fraction, Neville started to fidget, looking away, and Hermione bit her lip while looking at Harry a portion of her looking mildly apologetic. Their reactions were enough to tell Harry that they did know about Sirius Black supposedly being his godfather.

"We do," Hermione finally confessed unsettled by the solid stare Harry was giving. "Sirius told us."

Harry couldn't decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but he should've guessed that they knew. They did seem awfully close to the professor. Harry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit he was started to do that a lot lately.

"Okay," he said slowly. That didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. He didn't like when people were all up in his personal business. That fact that nobody actually knew about him was proof enough of that. No, this didn't brother him at all, plus he would have had to tell them any way.

The past week Harry hadn't gotten up the nerve to go up and talk to Professor Black. Sure there was the small smiles here and there, in classes, during lunch periods but other then that Harry hadn't gone up to actually talk to him. He decided to change that.

-o0o-

He was distracted all through defence. Harry kept glancing at Professor Black, their eyes met a couple times but they would both look away at the same time. By the end of the class Harry had sealed off his emotions, he was going to do this no matter what. The class quickly emptied as Harry sat rigidly in his seat.

Neville and Ron gave him encouraging smiles as the door shut behind them. He looked back up to the front of the classroom to see that Professor Black had his back turned. He was clearing off the black board and Professor Lupin had his head down reading through the quizzes. Harry waiting knowing that Lupin would realize he was still here. And he did; Professor Lupin stopped what he was doing and looked up with a frown. Harry would have much rather waited until Professor Lupin was gone, away from the school, this was his last day after all, but he really didn't want to put this off anymore.

"Harry?" he breathed out surprise written on his face before he shook himself. "Ah, Mr. Potter, can I help you with something?"

"Uh… yeah I was kind of hoping I could um, if it's not too much trouble, if I could …talk to Professor Black for a moment." He didn't have to look to know that Professor Black had also stopped what he was doing and was slowly turning around. Lupin didn't look at all surprised by that, instead he smiled warmly at Harry, which forced Harry to give him a funny look.

"Not at all, Mr. Potter," he said as he stood up, he looked over at Sirius and chuckled at his friend; he was looking at Harry with an extremely hopeful expression. "Sirius, I'll just be in the office," he didn't wait to see if Sirius had acknowledged the fact before turning heel and walking out of the room.

The silence was almost too much for Harry. He didn't know what to say, and he suddenly felt extremely guilty.

Oh god, he looks like he's gonna cry!

He did too. Sirius' eyes had gone all watery. Harry did not do well with crying people, no not at all. Right now Harry was at a total loss for what to say, but was saved the trouble.

"What..." Sirius cleared his throat. "What can I help you with Mr. Potter?"

That felt wrong. Sirius calling him 'Mr. Potter' just didn't feel right.

"You can call me Harry," he said quietly suddenly finding himself not able to look into Sirius' eyes. If he did he would have seen the beaming smile that crossed Sirius' features.

"I just wanted to say sorry for walking out like I did," Harry continued still diligently looking at the floor, "and I was wondering if… if you're still up for it that, I would understand if you didn't… I just… I would like to get to know you," he finished, finally peeling his eyes away from the floor to look up at Sirius. As soon as he did though he was bombarded by a hug.

A hug?!

Harry stiffened up, arms hanging useless one his sides. He didn't return the hug but Sirius either didn't notice or didn't care at the moment.

"Harry, I would… I would like that," he said. He released Harry and held him at arms length. His hands were still on Harry's shoulders and as much as it was starting to bother him he tried not to let it show.

"You look so much like your father," he stated simply, looking the youth over in greater detail.

Harry tilted his head to the side. "Really?" he asked, forgetting he was uncomfortable for the time being.

Sirius nodded his head, grinning like an idiot. "Of course you do," he chirped. He turned and went back to the desk.

"You want a butterbeer? I can get a house elf to bring some," Sirius paused as if realizing something. "Or did you want to go down to lunch, its no big deal if you do," he said hastily.

Harry looked at him strangely. He didn't think it was possible for someone to change moods so suddenly. One minute Sirius looked like he was about to cry, then he looked like he never been so happy in his life, now he looked all deflated. Harry shook his head at the man's antics. He wasn't exactly sure how he should act just yet.

"uh.. Yeah sure, butterbeer sounds great."

Soon the two of them were sitting at the desk in silence. It wasn't one of those nice comfortable silences either, this was one of those silences were it seems like time just doesn't move. It was like it wasn't moving fast enough. Harry had no clue _whatsoever_ what to say to the man.

Suddenly Harry found himself glaring at his Butterbeer. Oh what he wouldn't give for a real beer. Or a smoke at least, but he decided that wasn't exactly appropriate at the moment.

"So…" Harry tried. He couldn't stand this type of silence.

"Yup," Sirius nodded his head.

They were once again dipped into that god forsaken silence and Harry was starting to fidget. This really wasn't working. He was about ready to say he had to leave but he didn't want to seem rude or anything.

"Listen," Sirius said, sounding somber and depressed. "I know I freaked you out jumping at you out of nowhere, saying I'm your godfather and all. I know it must be hard with who I am and … my past. So I just wanted to say that I understand why you ran out … like you did." There was nothing accusatory in the way he said it. It was like that was the cold hard truth and there was no hiding behind it.

Harry's frown slowly started increasing throughout the time that Sirius was talking.

Is that was he thinks? Harry wondered. _Well that's not right._

Harry wondered. 

He could understand why Sirius thought that and Harry found himself wanting to justify his actions. He didn't want his new found godfather thinking he ran out on him because of his past. He didn't need that weight on his shoulders. Harry's guilt about running out magnified at the thought. Was that how he was feeling for the past week?

"No," Harry said forcefully. "No, it's not that at all."

Harry looked dead into Sirius' confused blue eyes. He was about to open his mouth but Harry stopped him.

"It's just..." Harry paused and collected his thoughts. "It's just hard to… I've been on my own for a while… and to suddenly find out I have a godfather… it's just… hard to think of someone else in my life right now," he kept his eyes trained on Sirius to get his point across. He knew from the look in Sirius eyes that he got it. It sort of surprised him that he did; anyone else would have gotten confused by his little confession.

Sirius somehow knew what he was talking about. He realized what Harry was trying to say but it just left him worried.

"Harry? What's your home life like?" he asked cautiously, he leaned forward in his seat.

"What home life?" Harry snorted. He didn't actually mean for it to come out like it did, but it did nevertheless.

"What do you mean? What are your parents like?" Sirius asked again, but he kind of had a feeling of what the answer was going to be.

Harry just looked at him pointedly like the answer was obvious. It was, Sirius knew from the look in Harry's eyes.

"You don't have any," he said it more like a fact then a question. He found himself sighing and leaning back in his chair. He was surprised when Harry started talking again. He didn't really expect him to say anything else.

"I never did," he said bluntly. "I bounced around from foster home to foster home when I was kid. I guess I just got sick of it, gave up on it," he tried to say it like it was no big deal, and to anyone other than Sirius it would have sounded that way. No, Sirius could hear the hidden pain in Harry voice, the way he had tapped his finger on the butterbeer bottle. It was all too familiar to Sirius; he went through the same thing when he finally decided to run away from home.

As much as Sirius wanted to ask about it, he didn't, he knew Harry would close up like a book the minute he asked so he kept his mouth shut. Harry was 17, he was an adult now but everyone could always use a friend.

"Well, lunch is almost over but I would love it if you had dinner with me tomorrow night?" he asked, hoping against hope Harry would accept him.

Harry was surprised at Sirius. Normally people asked a million questions and pushed for answers but there was Sirius blowing it off like it was no big deal.

Oh yea, Harry liked his new found godfather.

"I'd like that," Harry smiled, actually smiled. It had been such a long time that he genuinely smiled that he almost forgot the feeling.

"Great! Now I should probably get things ready for the next bunch of hooligans I have to teach" he said good-humouredly as he finished off the last of his butterbeer.

Harry stood and finished off his glass as well.

"Thanks, Professor."

"Please, call me Padfoot," Sirius said with a beaming smile, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"…um… Pad... foot?" Harry was truly confused. Why would anyone want to be called padfoot?!

"Nickname," he waved his hand.

"Oh… alright," he headed for the door but when he opened it he stopped and looked back at Sirius, who was watching him walk out.

"Oh and one more thing…" he asked hesitantly. Sirius nodded his head eagerly. "Bring some real beer tomorrow night, butterbeer doesn't even come close to the real thing." And in an act of daring he threw Sirius a cheeky grin and stepped out the door.

-o0o-

Sirius stood gob smacked before busting out in laughter as the door shut behind Harry. His godson.

As the door shut Remus peeked out from behind the office door to find Sirius still chuckling over something.

"I take it that went well?" Remus asked.

"Yeah," he replied, he had a wistful look in his face, every now and then he would chuckle at something. "He agreed to have dinner with me tomorrow night"

"Oh? That's nice" he said offhandedly. He was planning on telling Sirius what he had sensed when Harry had first approached him after class. He knew it now, he was sensing a distinct vampire smell on Harry, but it was faded to the point it was hard to tell. That was why he was having such a hard time sensing it in a room full of people.

He knew now, there was no denying it Harry Potter had to be the Dayshadow.

"Listen Sirius, I wanted to…."

But he was cut off as the bell rang and the fifth year student started filing into the room.

-o0o-

Dinner that night seemed a bit… detached in a way. Everyone's mind was on something else. Neville, Ron, and Hermione had stuck to his side like glue all afternoon. They had bombarded him with questions on how it went with Sirius but Harry realized that he didn't want to answer their questions. He would reply with a solid 'good' and left it at that.

"Hey Harry?" Neville asked.

Harry was half expecting Neville to ask him again what happened with Sirius, so he just sighed. "Yeah, Neville?"

"We were wondering what you were doing on the weekend?"

Harry looked up at the three friends surrounding him. They were all looking at him with curious expressions.

"Why?"

"Well it's a Hogsmeade weekend, just wanted to know if you'd like to come with us?" Neville said shrugging.

"Oh… alright." Why did they want him to go with them? It's not like he's the most fun to be around. Harry shrugged. If they wanted him to go, for reasons unknown to Harry, then he would go.

"Cool, we're going to go tomorrow… around… lunch," Neville trailed off looking at something up on the ceiling. Harry chose to ignore it and sat picking at his food when something unexpected happened.

A snowy white owl had landed in front of him.

He got an owl, in the middle of dinner.

In the middle of the Great Hall.

The owl stuck out its leg, expecting Harry to take the small letter attached to it.

Harry blinked at the owl; the owl blinked back hopping on one leg. He almost hesitantly reached forward to take the letter, he was aware that a lot of eyes were on him but brushed that aside as he took the letter. It was addressed to him as 'Ray' meaning it could only be one of two people that ever call him by that name. He pulled open the letter it read…

Hey Ray,

It's been a while since I've heard from you, and I just wanted to see how things were going. Not that I care or anything. Tomorrow is my birthday, so you better not forget. Oh and I expect a letter back too. When's your next break? Never mind you probably can't come visit anyway.

Me? Everything has been out of control lately. Every time I turn around there's a new problem. Today, for example, Mark called me. I couldn't believe it. Now that was like pouring salt into an already stinging wound. Got to say, that guys such an idiot! To say I freaked out would be an understatement. He won't be calling me again. Ever had somebody do that to you? But whatever. I'm over it. Really I am! Does that sound pathetic to you? Silly of me really.

So how's things on your end? Talked to Toby the other day too. All he did was ask about you. Yesterday too, I think he's worried about you. Left a message also. Owl him or something, he's driving me nuts! Well that's all for now.

May.

P.S Keep the bird, her name is Hedwig, the stupid thing bit me!

He frowned completely confused at the short letter. He re-read it twice before he realized there was a hidden message inside the complete nonsense written.

In town, meeting the birds, stay low.

If he took the letter beginning at each sentence, that's the message he got. He still frowned but realized that Neville was not so subtly reading over his shoulder. He folded the letter back up and sent a glare at Neville, whose face at least flushed in embarrassment.

Then he looked back at the bird, who was still blinking curiously at him. Harry just blinked back. He stared at the owl for a good minute before standing up.

"Hedwig?" he asked unsure still staring at the owl. The owl twittered hopping from one to the other. Harry took that as a yes. He was about to hold out his arm for Hedwig when he felt a presence behind him. Turning slowly he came face to face with that Slytherin ponce, Draco Malfoy. His two goons, Crab and Goyle, were flanking his side as usual.

Harry looked at him, tell-tale eyebrow raised questioningly. Harry felt rather than saw Neville come stand beside him.

"I would ask if I could help you, but it's obvious that no one can. So we'll just skip that part shall we?" Harry drawled, he would admit it; he really, really wanted to start a fight right now.

His comment seemed to go right over Malfoy's head, who wasn't expecting Harry to say anything. Harry could hear Ron behind him chuckling at the comment, and Neville was looking at him with wide surprised eyes.

Harry just continued to stare at Malfoy smoothly.

Malfoy stared at Harry for a second before his grey eyes moved to Neville.

"What's this, Longbottom? You taking in charity cases now?" he sneered directing the questions at Neville. Neville, who was about to open his mouth to make an angry come back, stopped short when he heard a snort.

Harry couldn't help it, he snorted out loud. Next thing he knew his head was in his hand, his shoulders shaking with repressed laughter. He didn't even know why he found what Malfoy said so funny, to him the statement just _was_.

"What's so funny, Potter?"

At the sound of his name Harry looked up to see Malfoy' cheeks flushed with anger. On the outside he continued to smirk at Malfoy, but on the inside he was a little baffled as to how the Malfoy heir knew his name. He had never so much as said a word to the blonde haired boy in all his years at Hogwarts.

Harry was about to retort, when he noticed Malfoy held a malicious gleam in his eyes. His smirk faltered a tiny bit at the look, and his eyes lost the previous amusement in them.

"What's the matter Potter? Surprised_ I know who you are_?" he hissed the last word in a deadly whisper.

Harry had no doubt that Malfoy knew who he was, but he always preferred to play dumb in a situation like this.

"I don't know whether to be flattered, or scared by that fact, Malfoy," he cocked his head to the side and showed off his best innocent expression.

All thoughts of a fight banished from Harry's mind, so he turned and looked back at the owl.

"Hedwig," he said with fake confidence as he held out his arm.

In an instant the owl, Hedwig, flew and perched herself on Harry's arm. He nodded his head still somewhat dazed and made his way out of the Great Hall without another word.

He made his way up to the dorm room. The bird seemed content to just watch her new owner.

Draco Malfoy. Prince of Slytherin. Resident death eater in training. Dick head extraordinaire.

If his assumptions were correct, then the vampires were working with Voldemort. And judging by that very baffling conversation he had with that vamp outside that club a week ago, then the vampire community now knew his real name. So it only made sense that Voldemort and his little followers knew about him too.

What Harry didn't get though, was what the vampires were getting out of Voldemort. He knew that no, and he meant _no_ vamp would willingly follow someone like Voldemort without getting something in return.

Harry needed to know what that something was. Like that vamp said, 'Voldemort's making big promises'. He had no doubt that whatever it was, it was big. Probably his head on a platter knowing those useless sacks of skin.

As he got up to the room. Hedwig flew off her perch and landed on the window sill, still content to stare at Harry. He fell back on his bed with an 'oomph' and pulled out the letter again.

So all of the letter wasn't complete nonsense. Like the part about Toby.

Toby Mac. He was a freelancer. Got his kicks by making weapons and dusting vamps. He was a in his late forties. His family had been killed by a pack of vampires over fifteen years ago and ever since then it had become his life's work to fight against all vampires. He was the guy that had taught Harry how to shoot a gun. Harry had met him when he was fourteen. That was a good month.

They had both run into each other, pretty much the same way he had met Morgan, just on a smaller scale. Ever since then Harry would call him up or just show up at his place when he needed a new dagger or weapon. He never really talked with the guy for like Harry, Toby wasn't a big talker but it suited them both just fine.

Hmmm... Harry pondered. _It says left a message - well crap_. He would have to get away from Hogwarts if he wanted to use his cell phone and check the message. That was probably why Morgan resorted to an owl to get a hold of him. He was going into Hogsmeade tomorrow, maybe he would be able to sneak away and use his phone. Get some desperately needed answers.

The letter was from Kelly Morgan, better known as the Vampire Slayer. He knew that much, only he ever called her 'May' just to get on her nerves. It must have killed her to actually write that down.

_In town, meeting the birds, stay low._

_In town._ That obviously meant that she was close by, and judging how she had warned him to stay low that had to be true. Stay low. Ha! Harry snorted out loud. Of course he was staying low, no matter how flippin' badly he wanted to go out he couldn't, not when even his instincts too were telling him to stay low. Something was defiantly up; Morgan hadn't contacted him in a little over a year now and for her to warn him like this it just made him all the more confused.The middle part of the message too was confusing. _Meeting the Birds_. What did that mean? So she was meeting someone, or somebody, noting the plural. Birds,' Harry thought.

The Phoenix's! That was it! She was meeting with the Order of the Phoenix.

Oh this had to be bad.

Very bad.

-o0o-

TBC.

Okay, do don't hate me, I had to leave it there. At first this was just going to be split into 2 parts, but then I decided that the two chapters were going to be insanely long, sooo I decided there was nothing wrong with three parts!

Please Review!

Peace\//


	10. A Deal To Be Made Pt 2

Undead Secrets

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

A/N: So this was up way sooner then expected! Hope you like it. Tons and tons of thank you's to my beta! oh and the awsome flashback with Morgan in this chapter... all the credit goes to him, **Steve2! **and if your reading this... your my new virtual budday!

I know this story has been kind of slow going so far but trust me, it is going to pick up after this chapter!

And thank you to everybody that reviewed! Your comments gave me the motivation to get this up quiker. So I think thats all for now... hope you like it!!

**Chapter 10: A Deal to be Made Part 2**

-o0o-

Minerva had a lot to think about as she sat in the backseat of a taxi cab. She was wearing a posh grey pinstriped muggle suit. The reason why was simple: she was posing as a social worker on her way to Saint Katherine's Orphanage. It's just that the material itched so ruddy much.

Harry Potter. To her shame, it took Minerva a little more than five minutes to put a face to the name. It was a fact that made McGonagall feel like a failure. She always prided herself in her teachings and her students, she was fair to all of them, she never played favourites, but for her to just forget one of her students – well, she never felt so ashamed in her life.

What made her feel even worse was the fact that she could remember his parents; remember teaching them like it was yesterday. Their only son, heir to the Potter line, who should have been loved and cared for, was forgotten. And now if it was true, the last of the Potters was being hunted down like some sort of rabid dog.

When she thought back to it now, she could remember that small eleven year. But he didn't seem normal for an eleven year old, he wasn't awed and star struck when he had first stepped foot in the Great Hall like all the others. She remembered that he had looked on with calculating eyes. He was the type of boy that watched everyone. He wouldn't say anything, just watched. After he was sorted in to Gryffindor, and the school year started, the quiet boy was slowly pushed out of everyone's mind and it never posed as a problem until now. How much had they missed? How could they have missed it? It seemed so painfully obvious now. Harry never spoke unless spoken to, he watched people with guarded eyes, generally stayed away from big crowds and never smiled. She recalled seeing him alone more often than with someone. Even when doing homework.

The taxi squealed to a halt in front of what looked like a condemned building. Infernal contraptions, these motor coaches were. It was a wonder they didn't all bang one another the way these men drove. Minerva could tell that the two story building was once a very upscale beautiful home. But it seemed that time had other plans. The grass, what little of it was left, was yellowed and dry, mingled with the dirt and dust. The shrubs on either side of the double door entrance were reduced to twigs and many of the windows were broken and boarded up.

The sun was just starting to set as Minerva stepped out of the car and leaned over to the open front seat window. "You sure you don't want me to wait around, miss?" he asked.

She passed the driver the correct amount of money and a little more for bringing her to this location alive instead of crashing during the haphazard ride. "I'm quite sure, thank you. I shall be quite all right."

He looked at the building, noticed that it looked like it had been condemned decades ago, then around the neighborhood which seemed to not be in any better state. "Your funeral, miss." And without another word he drove away.

She stood up straight, righted her jacket, and letting out a breath she started up the old steps. Something wasn't right. It was too quiet. Shouldn't there be kids running around? At least some sort of noise. But there was nothing.

She knocked on the wooden door and listened to the minor echo that resounded. Was the place shut down?

Just when she was about to turn around she heard the faint sounds of footsteps. She paused and listened as the now distinct footfalls drew ever closer to the door. Minerva stood a little straighter when she heard the clicking of locks on the other side.

The door creaked open, an older lady stood in the doorway. Her hair was rich with streaks of grey, she held a long black walking stick in her left hand but despite her obvious age, her eyes still shined with life.

"I ain't sellin'!"

Minerva was startled by the thick rasp in the older lady's voice. It was the kind of voice that accompanied those who smoked almost all their life. But it was what was said that threw Minerva for a loop.

"Well that's good because I'm not buying."

The woman narrowed her eyes at the professor while she looked her up and down.

"What da ya want?" she finally asked, wheezing between words.

"Well, I was just wondering if I could take a look at one of your files?" Minerva watched as the woman's eyes widened a fraction and went on. "I'm a social worker."

Minerva saw the other woman's eyebrows furrow together as she frowned. She looked at Minerva in confusion before opening the door wider to grant her access.

"I don't know why you would come here darlin'," she stated as she stepped aside. Looking inside, Minerva was positive this place was no longer an orphanage. Most of the furniture was covered with white sheets; the beam of sunlight that peaked through one of the few open windows highlighted the dust floating around the entrance hall.

Minerva looked back at the woman while she shut the door.

"I didn't know this place was shut down," she stated half of it a question the other half a statement.

"Where on Earth have you been darlin'? This place has been closed goin' on four years now."

Minerva blinked. Four years?

"I can see you have questions."

She nodded her head; yes, she had more than a few questions.

"Oh! Where are my manners," the woman chuckled, rubbing her hand up and down her apron to get the accumulated grime off it. She thrust out her hand. "Polly Macbeth."

"Minerva McGonagall," she stated once again as she shook Polly's hand.

"I used to run this place back when it was still running. Been here all me life."

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Macbeth"

"Please call me Polly. Would you like a cup of tea?" She led Minerva through the hall and into a kitchen, which looked much cleaner and more used then hall they just came from.

She took a seat at the small table. Polly busied herself making tea.

"You said you were a social worker. Can I ask why you came here?"

"Well," she cleared her throat, "there is this boy going to a boarding school where the educators are concerned about his welfare during the summer months and have asked me to look into it. His files were somewhat… incomplete to put it mildly. They simply indicated that he was left here after his parents died." Minerva had tried to keep it as vague as possible and she really didn't know how to explain it in the first place. She had originally planned to just walk in and ask for the records, but with this place no longer in action she could tell that would be a little harder then first expected.

Polly came over and set the mug of tea down in front of Minerva and took her own seat across from her.

"I can see your dilemma. Most of the children's files got lost in the system when they were all transferred over to Barkley's."

"Barkley's?"

Polly nodded her head and looked at her a little weirdly. "Barkley's Children Foundation. They were the reason this place shut down. Opened up four years back, the government stopped the funding for this place and all the kids got sent over there."

She stored that information away, if all else failed she would go and check out this Barkley's place. She sat thinking it over but realized something that Polly had said earlier.

"You said you've been here all your life?" At Polly's nod she continued. "Maybe you can remember somebody for me?"

Polly smiled like she knew that question was going to be asked.

"I can try, darlin', been here for fifty years and I can remember almost everyone that walked through those front doors, but my memory ain't what it used to be."

Minerva let out a breath, that was better then she could hope for.

"He was dropped off here about sixteen years ago," Polly tilted her head to the side and leaned in closer. "He was about one, just a baby. Does the name Harry James Potter ring any bells?"

-o0o-

Remus Lupin was not having a good day. No matter how many times during the day he tried to tell Sirius about Harry, there was always an interruption. He didn't even know what to do about it. Sure he didn't even know the son of his dead best friend, but he just couldn't believe that something like this was possible. How was it even possible? Mad Eye said that this sort of thing had happened to muggles in the past but it had never happened to a wizard before or one so young. Remus felt his stomach clench at the thought of Harry being attacked by a vampire so young.

If the vampires have been trying to kill him for ten years that meant that all this started when Harry was only six or seven years old. He felt that he could relate on a lower level, he had been cursed when he was just a child and forced to live with it, forced to hide it from everybody. But then again he didn't have the werewolf community after him and he also had his friends during school to help him through the full moons. So really, he realized, he couldn't understand everything going on with Harry. Just bits and pieces.

He would tell the Order at that meeting tonight about Harry, if only for the hope that they would be able to help him out even a little bit.

For now though, he was stuck with none other than Severus Snape on their little quest to pick up the Slayer. Albus really couldn't have stuck him with a worse person for this job.

Yes, he could respect the man; he did help him out with by making the Wolfsbane potion for him. But honestly, would it kill him to loosen up a bit, he glared at everything that moved. Remus backed up on that thought, attacking it from another perspective. If he was a spy, and had to endure the Dark Lord almost every night, not to mention the Dark Lord was getting highly suspicious of him, so he was not privy to inside information like he used to be when Voldemort was first in power, maybe he would probably be high strung too. Okay, that's possible.

But that didn't mean he enjoyed Snape's company any better.

They walked a distance to a muggle park. The slayer had given them specific directions on where to meet her, but the letter said nothing about what she looked like, what she would be wearing so they would be able to find her.

All it said was: 'I'll know who you are when I see you.' Vague and straight to the point.

He glanced around the park, countless kids were running around, screaming and laughing, many were getting ready to leave as the sun was slowly setting and the light of the day was disappearing rapidly. If anything Snape's glare had increased even more. He almost laughed when a kid looked at him and ran in the other direction like there was no tomorrow.

Remus tried to spot what he suspected the slayer would look like.

The last thing he expected was for a small dirty boy to come up to them and hand him a cell phone. He looked at the small sleek silver phone in confusion then looked at the boy.

"What this?"

"Some girl paid me twenty pounds to come over here and give you that." he said pointing at the phone before he gave Snape a scared look and ran off.

Just when Snape was about to say something a loud shrill ringing accosted their ears. Remus looked at the phone with wide eyes. He gave Snape one last glace before he flipped open the phone.

"Hello?" he asked hesitantly.

"Here's what I want you to do," a voice of a girl started. She had an American accent which made Remus frown in confusion. "Tell that man you came with to take off his jacket and throw it in the trash can ten feet away from you."

"Excuse me?" he asked confused.

"Don't ask questions, just do it," commanded the voice.

"Who is this?" he asked, his brain working a mile a minute as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"If you want to meet with me, you have to do as I say."

Remus realized with a start that he was talking with the Slayer. Why on earth was she asking this of them? He glanced around the place, there had to be about ten other people around that were using cell phones.

He sighed and met Snape's questioning gaze.

"You're supposed to go and throw your jacket in that garbage bin over there," he said to his accomplice, pointing ten feet away to a painted orange bin.

"What?" Snape demanded.

"Just do it, Severus," he sighed. He didn't want to lose what seemed like the only chance they had at meeting the Slayer.

Snape glared at him while he ripped off his expensive muggle jacket with more force then necessary. He stormed over to the bin and threw his jacket in and then stormed back over to Remus.

"What now? You want me to hop on one foot?" he sneered.

"It's done," he said into the phone.

There was a pause on the other end and Remus began to wonder if the girl was still on the phone or not.

"Walk past the swing set to the other side. Stand in the sand box."

Remus blinked and blinked again.

"Come on," he looked a Snape and not waiting for him to follow he set off walking briskly past the swing set and stood watching as several kids played around in the sand.

Snape was giving him an annoyed look but Remus ignored him and concentrated on the phone.

"What now?" he asked half exasperated. He honestly didn't know why she was going through all of the trouble. Maybe this girl was just paranoid, but he really didn't see the reasoning behind making them do this.

"Turn around."

Remus jumped startled. He heard the voice in the phone and behind him. Severus had whipped around, his hand resting on his wand. Remus turned around slowly, one hand still holding the phone to his ear, the other reaching for his wand inside his jacket.

He turned around and faced a small girl, her dark brown hair was pulled back but her bangs still framed her face, falling into her eyes, but it didn't look like it bothered her. She wore baggy black cargo pants and a reddish brown leather jacket that hugged her figure. She had several thick silver hoops in her ears and had a few heavy metal rings on every other finger.

Remus looked at her in shock. Her whole demeanour shouted 'don't give a damn' and it was quite frankly not what he was expecting the Slayer to look like. For one thing she didn't look that physically… imposing.

He slowly brought the phone away from his ear and snapped it shut with an audible click. That seemed to break the silence.

"And just what was that all about?" Snape snapped at the girl, clearly not happy about the situation.

"Sorry," she said sounding a little desperate. "I just had to make sure," her eyes were wide and glassy as she looked at them both.

Remus immediately softened up. What on earth had this girl been put through to make her sound so scared and desperate? Right when he was about to put a hand on the girls shoulder and say those famous 'you're safe now' words, she burst out laughing.

Surprised, both Remus and Severus took a step back and looked at her like she was insane. She doubled over, hands resting on her knees as she laughed.

She took a deep and let it out, all the while trying to fight the huge smile on her face.

"I can't believe you fell for that!" she looked them both in the eye as she stood straight and giggled again.

Snape sent her a murderous glare that would have had anybody else running for their life but it didn't affect the girl in the slightest. Remus continued to stare at her. It was all a joke? And a very elaborate prank at that. He soon found himself smiling brightly at her.

"Kelly Morgan," she thrust out her hand for him to shake, ignoring Snape, who now most likely had plans of murder running through his head. "And don't even think about calling me Kelly," she said narrowing her eyes at him.

Remus chuckled at her, a little bewildered by her straight forward attitude. He handed the phone back to her.

"Remus Lupin, and this is Severus Snape," he gestured with his hand when Snape made no move to introduce himself. The man was watching Morgan like a hawk, it was unnerving Remus a tiny bit but she seemed like she could care less.

"Can I ask? Why?" he asked in a perplexed sort of way. Plus, he was honestly curious.

"I was bored," she shrugged her shoulders.

Strangely enough that made perfect sense to the former Marauder.

"So, werewolf huh?"

The question caught him completely off guard that he stumbled back a bit and looking her in shock. It was said in such a casual way that made him all the more surprised at he couldn't help giving her a shocked almost frightened look.

"Slayer," she said slowly pointed a finger to her chest.

Remus cleared his throat, embarrassed by his own behaviour. He knew that, of course she would be able to tell what he was, but when he saw her looking at him with a bright smile and amusement shinning out of her ebony eyes he found himself relaxing slightly. She wasn't acting like she was about to attack him like the dark creature the ministry believed him to be.

"Well then, shall we?" he said desperate for a change of topic. Again Morgan shrugged her shoulders and smirked at Snape, who before Remus had even finished talking took off in the opposite direction. She snickered as they followed after Snape and Remus began to wonder who exactly this girl was. He would admit, he wasn't expecting this girl, this slayer, to be so carefree, so… what was the word?? Light hearted? It was a trait that he wasn't expecting from Kelly Morgan, the slayer, who had more responsibilities, more worries than anyone else, and for one so young, it was baffling.

-o0o-

"Does the name Harry James Potter ring any bells?"

Minerva asked watching closely for a reaction from the older woman. Polly frowned and absentmindedly ran a finger across the top of her cup.

"Ah!" she suddenly exclaimed snapped her fingers. "I remember that boy, he was the biggest troublemaker this place had ever seen," she chuckled.

"Pardon?"

Minerva was surprised by that answer, she was expected this woman not to remember, her guilt increased by that fact, it took this women only a second to remember the boy and she hasn't even seen him in Merlin knows how long.

"That boy did nothing but get in trouble the whole time he was here," she said but added. "Poor dear."

Minerva was once again baffled by this woman.

"Could you explain please?" she cleared her throat and looked at Polly, her concern growing.

"Let me start at the beginning," she said and looked Minerva in the eye while she took a deep drink of her tea. The transfiguration professor found herself gripping her own tea cup like it was her last life line.

"Harry Potter was dropped off here when he was a little over one. Don't get me wrong here, he was the cutest babe that I'd ever seen but it wasn't until after a year that he was first fostered into a home. The couple brought him back not a month later saying something about 'he wasn't normal.' Complete hogwash if you ask me, all children are special and should be cherished not shunned away." Polly stopped here and muttered something about foolish parents while taking a sip from her tea.

"So long story short, he was fostered, oh it had to have been about seven times, and always brought back with some excuse like 'he doesn't talk' or 'he lies', 'he steals' and comments like that. Couples don't go for the troubled kids, they want the good ones, I think Harry only ever got chosen because he looked so sweet and innocent," she chuckled. "He was far from it, broke a couple windows back then, picked fights with the older boys, stole almost anything he could get his little hands on." She chuckled again, "Your regular delinquent."

Minerva nodded her head soaking up all the information she was given.

"He stopped being fostered when he was around seven. Something odd seemed to happen to him then and he became even more closed off to the rest of the children than usual. He ran away when he was nine, haven't seen him since," she sighed.

"Wait, what?" Minerva gasped. "He was never adopted?"

It seemed that her life had become a box full of surprises that just kept revealing themselves in a never ending cycle. All revolving around one boy, that held more secrets then she cared to know. But try as she might, she was enticed. Secrets were kept for a reason, whether the reasoning for keeping them be good or bad and the thing about secrets, they made even the most uninterested of people curious. It was in human nature to want answers, truths, even if it did not pay benefit to those that find them.

"No, not while he was here," Polly blinked at Minerva. "I'm glad to hear he is alright though."

The professor sighed and took a long sip of her tea. Leaning back, she mused how it all fit. Even though Harry apparently disappeared from this place when he was nine, something happened to him several years earlier when this Dayshadow person they were looking for came to be around ten years ago.

"Well, I thank you for sharing that with me, it certainly helps out a lot." She gave a tight lipped smile to the woman, her mind was reeling and she wanted to get back to the Order and share what she had found out. It was already dark outside and she didn't know how long she had spent here.

"Don't thank me, darlin', I couldn't have help all that much," Polly replied as she waved the gratitude aside.

Minerva finished off her tea and thanked the kind woman again before she was escorted out. She walked at a fast pace before she spotted an empty alley she could use.

After ensuring she was free from muggles and curious eyes, she glanced around just to make sure she was truly alone and apparated away with the sound similar to that like the crack of a whip.

-o0o-

Morgan looked around at her surroundings.

The place was dank and smelt faintly of mothballs that by the sheer definition had her snorting in amusement. Oh sure the place looked like it had been cleaned up, or attempted to be cleaned, either way she did not think that the rumoured Order of the Phoenix held its meeting in a _very_ questionable building. That was more on par with what one of the day-walkers would do.

She realized that the Lupin fellow was giving her funny looks, whereas the creepy Snape guy was quite obviously ignoring her. No big loss there. She followed them, at a much slower pace, to what seemed to be a kitchen door. Judging by the fact that hinges worked both ways and with common sense she deduced that only kitchen doors were swinging doors.

Lupin stopped in front of the door, he pulled out his wand and with a muttered incantation, a silvery form of what looked like a werewolf appeared. It circled the man before it turned and charged threw the door leaving faint silvery wisps in its wake.

Morgan tilted her head to the side as she watched the display, it was one of the more beautiful aspects of magic that she would smile fondly at. She understood that these people wanted peace and that magic was never meant for destruction, but really with that kind of fire power, who were they kidding. That was another thing she understood at a much higher level was that there were beings in this world that wanted power and would stop at nothing to get it. There would never be a perfect balance; it would forever be constantly tipping from side to side.

She knew that, she understood that, and she accepted that.

Morgan was brought out of her musings as the door she was currently glaring at creaked open to reveal an older lady. She was plump with kind hazel eyes and wild red hair. She had that permanent glint of worry in her eyes that only mothers held.

"Remus, Severus," she nodded at each. "We've been waiting for you."

She opened the door wider for them to enter and Morgan got a good look inside. It held about twenty people in the room, all different in their own ways.

The one thing that was the same though was that they all were wearing those freaky robes. Now that was something she would never understand: even Ray couldn't understand it.

She noticed at the head of the long table sat one weird looking wizard. Must be Dumbledore. He had stark white hair and blue eyes shadowed by half moon spectacles. What really turned Morgan's frown into that of shock was the old man was wearing bright orange and yellow robes. Who on this earth would wear those bright ass colours? Together?!

"Ah, Remus, Severus, I trust you had no complications?" the old man asked while he stood up.

This was the part where Morgan became all too aware that every single eye in the room was now staring at her curiously.

"Yes of course Albus, everything went smoothly," Lupin replied when Snape just sneered at took one of the vacant seats, Remus' smile increased ten fold and he had to hold back from chuckling.

"Excellent, excellent."

Morgan raised an eyebrow at the eccentric man. She watched as he walked over to where she and the Lupin fellow were standing.

"Albus, I would like for you to meet Kelly Morgan, the slayer." he said.

"Call me Morgan," she said smoothly while she shook the man's hand.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Allow me to introduce my colleagues," he replied, turning slightly so the were both facing the rooms occupants.

"As you already know, I am Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster at Hogwarts. This is Molly Weasley, her husband Arthur Weasley, their children Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George and Ron," he said pointing to each of them.

Morgan's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. She recognized the mother as the one that opened the door and realised that she must be a mother, but six kids? Damn.

She nevertheless nodded at them with an incredulous look on her face but chose not to make a comment on the size of the family.

"Besides Ron are Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger, seventh year students."

Here Dumbledore paused, probably expecting her to say something about their famous boy-who-lived. She wasn't all that interested actually, she heard about him of course. He held that cool confidence that she looked for and respected in people as did his friends so she tilted her head down a bit but said nothing once again.

"Across her is Kinsley Shackelbolt and Nymphadora Tonks, Aurors at our ministry," he continued.

"Call me Tonks please," the girl with bright pink hair said glaring at Dumbledore, while the big black guy nodded his head at her.

"I understand completely," Morgan smiled at the older girl. She could relate, although the name Nymphadora was a whole lot worse then Kelly. In Morgan's mind she liked to say that the name 'Kelly' kind of ruined the whole big bad slayer image. At least, that was her excuse; the real reason was that the last person to call her Kelly was her mother. She died when Morgan was 6, leaving her alone with a drunk for a father.

Tonks let out a carefree laugh. "At least yours is not half as bad as 'Nymphadora'."

Morgan smiled and looked at the others waiting for an introduction.

"Here we have Sirius Black, no doubt you heard of him also?" he asked her with twinkling eyes. Morgan didn't like those eyes; they made her a little wary, no normal person had eyes that twinkled that much.

She nodded at the man as he smiled at her, Morgan could tell from his eyes that he was put through a lot in his life. Another person she could come to respect.

"And lastly we have Alastor Moody, retired Auror." She once again nodded at the heavily scarred man and realized that he was probably the only man here that had a vague understanding of the vampire underworld.

"Now then," Dumbledore clasped his hands together. "Please have a seat and we will get down to business."

Morgan took the last vacant seat, beside Black and across from Hermione.

Dumbledore took his seat up at the front and looked directly at her. Morgan sighed, time for the third degree. She leaned back in her chair and stuck her feet up on the table, crossing her ankles together. Ignoring the fact that she was being extremely disrespectful Dumbledore continued.

"What can you tell us about this Dayshadow?" he said, surprising everyone with his bluntness. Albus Dumbledore was known for scooting around the issue instead of going straight to the point. It just served as a dire reminder of their situation.

"The Dayshadow?" she asked. She knew they were going to ask her that. She noticed that everyone in the room seemed to lean in closer to her, eager for answers. But she wasn't about to tell them who he was, she owed Ray that much. She kept her features cool and indifferent at the mention of the name.

FLASHBACK

"So, Morgan, you up for this tonight?" Ray asked suggestively. He was such a jerk sometimes. And this was one of those times.

"Shut up already. I've known you for what, two months, and you think you can already harp on me? In your wet dreams, kiddo."

Ray smiled that brief twinge of lips at the barb. It had taken some time to get to know him, but some of his idiosyncrasies were easy to decipher. Insulting him to his face with some subtle humor undertones was a good way to get him to relax. Insulting him to his face with nothing but malice behind the words was a good way to get your ass handed to you by him.

"I know I promised to deliver a group of 10 vamps setting for an initiation drive, but something else came up," he started.

"Can't even get some local vamp kids to come suck your stuck up blood. Jerk," I replied with a subtle smile.

"Oh, I could get them, but when better prey comes along, it would be a shame to let it go, don't you think?"

That caught my interest. "What better prey, ragamuffin?"

"A clan elder slid into town two days ago to supervise a blood hunt."

"What's a blood hunt?" Morgan had asked, genuinely curious. Term-learning was just as important as knowing how to stab a vamp in their cold, black heart.

"Ah, come sit at the feet of your venerable master, young kitten," Ray smart-assed.

"In your wet dream, dipstick. Just tell me so we can get to tonight's festivities."

Ray smirked a little again. Then started, "Well, to tell you about a blood hunt, you need to understand a little more about the different types of blood in the world. Tell me, what do you know about the magical community?"

It was hard to imagine at 16 being schooled about blood genetics from a 15-year-old kid, but said kid really knew his way around a vamp's defenses. And, apparently, he knew his way around the magical world. She was going to have to get more of a brain dump from him on that. After they'd whacked a clan elder. She was to play the screaming victim. Sounded like fun.

END FLASHBACK

Morgan shook her head to clear the memories. She had business in the here and now to attend to first. "The Dayshadow is considered an abomination, a deviation that was never supposed to happen. At least, that's what the vamps say."

"What is he?" Neville asked in a whisper. So they know he's a he then. They were closer to finding out than she thought, but that didn't deter her from not outright telling them that it is Harry Potter. She wasn't going to do that to him.

She brought her legs off the table and her chair snapped back on all four legs.

"He's human," she bit out defensively, an act that didn't go unnoticed. "He was bitten, but never turned and nobody knows how it happened. So now the Vampire community has got some hybrid running around and let me tell you, they will stop at nothing to see him dead.

"The reason why they want him dead is simple. He is a major threat to their existence. His strength, speed, agility… basically his power matches that of theirs. Plus he does not need blood to survive because his heart still beats, and he still has a soul which is a very good thing in my book. Not to mention the fact that he has magical abilities," she replied looking at everyone in the room.

"Are you saying that this Dayshadow can best the all-knowing Slayer?" Snape said mockingly, one delicate eyebrow raised.

"He's been at this longer than I have," she said as if that explained it. Which to her it did. Ray had taught her a lot, she never even knew there was different kinds of vampire's, clans and packs, power and age, until after she met him when she was sixteen.

"Can I ask how old you are dear?" Molly asked looking at her with concern. Morgan almost groaned, she was one of those mother-hen types.

"I'm eighteen," she knew she looked younger because of her small stature but the best thing about it was that everyone tended to underestimate her for her size. "I was called to be the Slayer when I was fifteen." She said it with a tone of finality that stopped Molly from asking anymore questions that were bound to be about her parents, and her life in general. She really wasn't up for that right now.

"I think you got bigger problems at the moment," Morgan said directing her attention back at Dumbledore. "You guys got every dark creature running this way, and I think you know why."

She decided to redirect the conversation away from herself and the identity of the Dayshadow and the best way to avoid those kinds of questions was to bring up a different topic entirely.

"Hogwarts," he said gravely nodding his head. "I assure you, the wards around her are at their best."

"You got all them fancy wards around Hogwarts that will pretty much deny entrance to anyone with the intent to harm any of the schools occupants?" At his nod she added, "It ain't gonna work."

There was a pause as everyone in the room paused and stared at the girl.

"How, my dear, have you come to that conclusion?" Dumbledore asked, his expression was stern and he had more prominent worry lines standing out on his face.

"First of all, I'm not 'dear', far from it and second of all, that's easy, we're talking about vampires, the wards around Hogwarts don't recognize dead people. Voldemort and his crew may not be able to get in but vampires sure can. They haven't bothered to crash through the wards due to the consequences you can dish out, Mr. Dumbledore, but from what I'm gathering from my contacts, that is about to change."

A collective gasp went through the crowd. Nobody had ever realized it and the truth in that statement hit home. Morgan nearly rolled her eyes at the lot of them. That was their problem, when somebody looks too hard for something the answer is usually right in front of them.

"Your magic won't work on vampires, most like. They're immune to most of it."

"But not all of it," Hermione said. Morgan nodded at the girl. She was book smart, one of those people that had all the answers in their head but no experience to go with it.

"The only magic that works on them is if it will kill them similar to the known ways, like cutting off their head, a wooden stake through the heart, silver to the bloodstream, sunlight. Although conjuring sunlight with magic won't work because it's made by magic, kinda like artificial lighting; either way it's fake and won't work. Fire works though. Light 'em up and watch them burn to a crisp."

A harsh cough interrupted her rambling. Morgan blinked, looking highly affronted that she was interrupted, but stopped on that particular train of thought.

"Right, back on track. Your blasting curse – you hit one of them with it and it may knock them down but they'll get up within seconds. What you gotta understand is that it doesn't hurt them since they're already dead. Look at it like this," Morgan cleared her throat thinking of an easy way to explain. "Your power Professor, has kept every dark creature out of Hogwarts, even those immune to it. Your power is not a repellant to them. It is more of a deterrent. It doesn't stop any of them wishing to do get in, only gives them pause to think of the consequences when you or your power catches them. But now word is spreading that somebody is organizing a break in at Hogwarts and they're already on their way here. Not even you will be able to stop a whole horde of 'em."

"Who would have that kind of power over the Vampires?" Albus asked, he knew that not even Voldemort would be able to get Vampires to come at his command and he was fearing the answer to his question.

Morgan smirked. She knew he didn't want to hear the answer to the question but she was all for bursting his bubble.

"Who do think? Vampires may not be able to do magic but I know for a fact there are three, very old, very mean vampires in existence that _are_ able to perform it."

"The H3," Moody grunted. He scratched his cheek. "This complicates things, Albus, those three are just about as untouchable as Voldemort himself is." His eye jumped around and looked at all those who flinched at the name. Then his eye stuck on the exterior door as if seeing something that caught his attention.

"Okay what is the H3? You mentioned it yesterday too," Ron bit in.

"Honestly Ronald, read a book once and a while," Hermione snapped. She had read about the H3, in most of the books it was questioned whether or not they actually existed. There were more rumors than facts about them and nothing was set in stone about their identities. Hermione had already started a list of names or possible aliases she'd gathered from the books but was not comfortable with the results as it indicated they were muggles, wizards, and demons all at the same time. Which simply meant: no one knew who they were.

Neville chose to stay quiet; he had never heard of the H3 either but didn't want other people to know that since it seemed like pretty much everyone in the room knew what it was. Besides, he now knew everything about them that he needed to know: H3 magical vamps tough to kill need anti-vampire lessons from Moody.

There was an audible thunk as Morgan's head hit the table.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she banged her head on the table two more times before she lifted her head up and looked right at Albus. "What kind of secret organization are you running here anyway!?"

She couldn't believe it. The Order of the Phoenix was rumoured to be one step ahead of Voldemort all the time. How the hell did they not know what was going on? Even she knew the gist of the situation and she just got in the country two weeks ago.

"I'm afraid this has all happened too quickly for any of us to grasp a tight hold," Dumbledore explained to the girl that was now staring at him like he was a joke. But to be fair, he knew, his younger members needed more training on gathering intelligence.

"Okay, for those of you that don't know," she took a deep breath and let it out. "The Hellsome Threesome, more widely known as the H3. Three Vampires," she held up three fingers. "Rumoured to have been turned three and half to four centuries ago, nobody knows for sure." _Well, Ray probably does. _"Two wizards, one witch. The first and only known magical people to ever be turned. Now from what I've heard is; they can perform some magic, they are not particularly powerful, most their magic left along with their souls, but some was left behind in their husks," she held up a hand when she seen some were about to ask questions. "Don't ask me how, I don't know," she said it forcefully to get that point across to the room's occupants. "And because of that and their age, it's no wonder you got vamps coming here from all over the world. These three are powerful, strong, and smart. Not to mention, the clans look to them for guidance these days."

The room was dipped in silence as they let that information to sink in. Morgan looked from person to person.

"Well as much as I'd love to stay and chat," she said sarcastically, rising to her feet.

Just as she stood up, the kitchen door was once again opened and in walked an older lady, stern looking. Basically the type of person Morgan would make a purpose of getting under their skin, if only to see a normally poised, organized person, frazzled. It was always amusing to watch. But she didn't think on it anymore as the woman starting speaking.

"Albus, it's Harry Potter."

There was almost simultaneously an outbreak of questions and exclamations at those words. Morgan had momentarily frozen, now it was definitely time to leave.

She really didn't have the time to stay and try and explain the Vampire underground to these people. Something big was going down and it never paid to sit and talk about what it might be. She had Vampires to kill and evil plans to foil. Besides if they had already figured out who Harry Potter really was, he would be able to explain it better then she would ever be able to.

Nobody voiced any arguments about her leaving. So with a 'you know how to reach me' she turned and left.

It wasn't until after she left that everyone realised that never said that she didn't know who the Dayshadow was. She had effectively avoided the topic.

-o0o-

Harry didn't sleep at all last night. He was anxious and worried and annoyed and everything in between.

He had pretended to be asleep when Neville and Ron had reappeared in the Dorm late last night. He had no doubt in his mind that just come from a meeting with the Order of the Phoenix, and now he didn't know how to act around his friends. It was giving him a headache just think about everything. For once in his life he didn't know what to do, everything was just so much simpler when nobody knew him.

So now he lay in bed, wide awake.

Why today, of all three hundred and sixty five days in the year, did it have to be freakin' bright and sunny outside?

It was late morning and Harry really, really did not want to get out of his bed. He momentarily thought about just staying right were he was and just tell Neville and them that he didn't feel good, but that thought was vanquished as soon as he remembered that he needed to check the messages on his phone. To do that he would need to go down to Hogsmeade, past the wards surrounding Hogwarts.

Alas, to do that, he would have to get out of bed first.

So he was right back where he started. Lying belly up, eyes pinched shut and rubbing his temples.

"Hey Harry! You up yet?"

Oh sweet mother of Merlin!

"Yeah," Harry grunted back at Neville's voice behind the curtains.

"Okay, well, we'll meet you down in the Great Hall then we can head up to Hogsmeade."

He sat up as he heard Neville go down to the common room. He was dreading the moment he had to step outside. Harry got dressed in his usual clothes, it was the weekend so the mandatory school outfit did not have to be worn. He wore a plain black t-shirt and had disillusioned his weapons, otherwise he would be dying from heat with a sweater on. There was no way in the nine levels of Hell he was going outside without a weapon. Just as he slipped on his black sunglasses he felt a shiver go up his spine.

He paused, something was wrong. Well besides the obvious, he had a feeling something bad was going to happen today.

Harry made sure to keep that in mind. He rummaged through his trunk and found the small vial of headache relief potion, it would help for a couple hours at least. So he knocked it back and slipped his cell phone in his pocket. He closed his eyes as he felt the pressure on his head release some.

Time to get this crap over with.

As he made his way done to the Great Hall, he passed several teachers. He tried to pretend he didn't notice their wide eyed stares. If he wasn't on edge before he was certainly on edge now. Not to mention he had another million unanswered questions swarming around his head and ultimately putting him in a very bad mood.

He got down to the entrance hall and noticed Hermione, Ron and Neville standing whispering to each other. They noticed him immediately stopped talking once they noticed him making his way over to him.

"Hey Harry," Neville greeted once he was close enough.

Harry nodded his head in Hello and they were dipped in an awkward silence. His eyes being hidden behind his very dark sunglasses, Harry watched them all closely. Ron was looking anywhere but at him and was dead quiet. This was new, Harry always knew Ron to be the outspoken one, always bickering with Hermione. Hermione on the other hand, was looking at him intently, really intently, kind of like she was looking for something. Neville just seemed like his normal self, his hands were deep in his pockets while he rocked back and forth on his feet.

Harry had a bad feeling about this. Why all of the sudden were they acting strangely around him? No, Harry didn't like this one bit.

"So?" he started and glared at Hermione, who was still staring at him. The effect was lost since his eyes were hidden but it nevertheless stopped her from staring.

"We should get going," Neville said. He walked past and out the open hall doors sending an unreadable look at his two friends.

Harry blinked and followed after them, he was going to have to keep a close watch on all three of them. Deep down he thought he knew why they were suddenly acting differently but he really didn't want to admit it until he had some solid evidence in his hands. This was the last thing he needed right now.

Soon they were all walking the path down to Hogsmeade. Harry was walking beside Neville and Hermione and Ron were a couple paces ahead of them. Hand in hand.

Harry looked at Neville who just shrugged in response but had a wide grin on his face as he did so.

-o0o-

While they got seats at The Three Broomsticks, Harry excused himself with the oh-so-clever excuse that he had to use the bathroom.

When he got into the tiny bathroom in the back of the pub, he shut and locked the door. Quickly he checked under the stalls to find that he was indeed alone.

Leaning against the locked door, Harry pulled out his phone and called his voicemail. The reception was staticky and weak but that was to be expected. He was still surrounded by magic. His mailbox was full, which again was what he also expected.

_'Where the hell are ya kid? Listen you got trouble headin your way. I've already talked with Morgan and she's on her way. Call as soon as possible and… just be careful kid.' _

Harry narrowed his eyes and worried his lip. He'd never heard Toby so worked up before.

He didn't get the chance to think on it for to long. Soon after another message began to play.

_'Ray, we got trouble, big trouble. I'm in England right now. There's word spreading like wild fire. Vampires are coming your way from all over man. Call me as soon as you get this.' _

She was out of breath, and in the message it sounded like she was running. What the hell was going on? What had gotten all the vampires so excited that they had to come running this way? It couldn't just be because of Harry. He knew that they wanted to see him dead, but they wouldn't come from all over just to get him, not unless they got something out of it.

_'Damn it Ray! I realise that you can't use your phone right now and I don't know whether or not you got my owl but I really need to talk to you. Like now! I just talked with the birds and trust me when I say this. They have their suspicions about you man, that's if they haven't already figured it out. Listen to me, I need to talk with you, so screw staying low and get to a phone. Something is going to happen, I don't know when, I do know the…" _

The message had cut off and Harry was left standing with his lips parts taking a deep breath. Bloody Hell! He wanted to rip his hair out.

He snapped his phone shut and was about to call Morgan back when a loud knocking met his ears. Someone was knocking on the door; he could feel the vibrations from the knocking on his back and sighed angrily.

"What?" he snapped at the unknown person on the other side.

"Harry? Are you alright?" it was Neville. He didn't have time for this. He wrenched opened the door and came face to face with the other boy.

"Not now, Neville," he bit out through clenched teeth. Without saying another word he pushed past a wide eyed Neville and made his way for the exit.

"Harry, wha?" was all he heard from Hermione when he stormed past her and Ron. He needed to get to a quiet place to talk with Morgan. He needed to know what the hell was going on and he'd be damned if those three tried to stop him.

Harry kept his mouth shut as he made his to the door. He knew that Neville, Ron and Hermione had gotten up and were rushing to catch up to him. He didn't say anything, just kept his jaw tightly clenched shut. He knew the moment he opened his mouth he was going to yell at the closest person to him, if only to vent. He had to get away from the golden trio, they weren't going to leave him alone and he was prepared to stun them if they didn't.

As soon as he stepped out onto the sidewalk he froze. His back stiffened and his eyes widened.

Ron barely stopped himself from running into Harry.

"Harry! What the?" Neville started but noticed that Harry's demeanour had changed entirely once he stepped outside. Gone was a quiet kid that needed some friends. In its place was something to be afraid of. Very afraid.

Harry paid them no heed. He was panicking on the inside. How was it possible? It was the middle of the flippin' day!

His eyes flickered over the crowd. Sure enough they were here.

A man sitting on a bench reading a newspaper.

A woman peering into the window of the store.

_This isn't happening!_

Two more walking out of another store.

Another leaning casually against a wall.

Not _flippin'_ possible!

One more walking through the crowd.

There was one over… And another one…

They were everywhere! Unnaturally pale, looking sickly so in the bright sunlight.

Harry was too lost, too utterly confused, to realize what he had said out loud.

"Vampires."

TBC


	11. A Deal To Be Made Pt 3

Undead Secrets

Disclaimer: Once again, thats right yet again I am telling you that I do not awn anything within the Harry Potter world.

A/N: Oh my goodness! So another long chapter for you awsome readers! And yes, there will be no more Parts in A Deal to be Made. I'm thinking about three to four more chapters before this stroy ends, but my plans never work out the way I, well the way I plan them to.

I have to thank my wonderful beta **Steve2** and for letting me use his imagination! On that point, I would like to say that the Helsome Threesome ( the H3) was all his creation and those three are his characters. Thinking back now, I honestly dont know where my story would be without those three, they certainly spice things up a notch thats for sure.

Thanks again to all those who reviewed! I couldnt belive all the reviews I got just for the last chapter alone! I should leave evil cliffies more often! No I'm kidding, I try not to do that, if I feel its a good spot to end a chapter then I take it, I didnt mean to leave you all hangin' like that! Honestly I didn't!

You believe me don'cha?

No? (sigh)

Well... I'm just plain rambling now... so without further ado... read on fanfiction lovers, read on!

**Chapter 11: A Deal to be Made Part 3**

-o0o-

Silence.

The sounds of the people around him, laughing, talking, yelling; it all faded away. A faint murmur, a ringing in his ears.

He could almost hear someone, something calling him. He could feel it, a wave of fascinating power. It washed over him until it was all he could feel.

And just like that, like it never happened. The reality of it all came crashing back in a world of sounds. It was all muddled together, he couldn't make out a single coherent word, coherent _sound_.Squinting his eyes, he tried to block it all out, tried to grasp hold of something, anything sturdy. It was overwhelming. The sheer power he was feeling had him disoriented to the point he couldn't form a single thought that made any sense at all.

So he stood, stock still, hard emerald eyes scanning the crowd for any indication of where that power was coming from. The vampires: he could tell they were watching him. But they were waiting for something, some sort of signal. He paid them no heed, he needed to find that power, that was the only thing that mattered and it wasn't coming from any of the vampires, they couldn't hold such a controlled, beautiful ability.

He couldn't find it. That force that was calling him. Right in front of him, yet out of reach, out of sight.

A shrill, broken scream. It sounded disoriented kind of like when someone screams under water.

Stillness.

It was gone, that intoxicating power was gone, right when the scream pierced through his mixed and foggy brain, and for a second, he was angry – angry at whoever screamed, whoever made that feeling go away.

Harry shut his eyes and shook his head. Someone had screamed, someone was hurt, someone was getting attacked.

That solitary thought snapped his brain back to the present.

Vampires. Vampires in Hogsmeade.

"Harry!"

His hand shot out and clung to the fabric of the person next to him, the person that was relentlessly trying to get his attention. Well he had it now. He pulled the boy closer, a mere inch from his own face. It was Neville. Harry didn't look at him; his own eyes flickered through the crowd with new purpose; to find the source of that scream.

"Get everyone back up to Hogwarts," he hissed.

It wasn't a suggestion; it was a harsh command that left no room for questions.

Harry finally tore his eyes away from the mingling people, people that never heard the scream, the scream that was heard for Harry's ears only.

Neville was staring right at him with wide confused eyes, his hot breath sending prickles up Harry's neck. Harry turned his head slightly to the side so he could look at Neville. Ron and Hermione were behind him, he could feel it, feel that they were about to ask questions. Now was not the time for questions.

"Now!" he snarled through clenched teeth and let his hold on Neville release. Without another word or so much as a backward glance Harry tore through the crowed streets, pushing past people, completely ignoring the mad calls and cries at his back.

He had a new objective. And he intended to get it done.

So he ran full tilt, or as fast as he could with so many people around. Too many. He hoped to god Neville would do as he told him to or many innocent people were about to get killed.

Harry ran in the direction he figured the scream must have come from, but then one sound, one single ominous sound made him stop dead in his tracks. He was in the middle of the main street, he froze and slowly looked over his shoulder.

A bell tower at the far eastern end of Hogsmeade chimed, deep and resounding.

Once.

Twice.

A third time and another sharp pleading scream followed.

-o0o-

Neville was confused, Harry had yelled at him, pushed him out of the way and was now storming out of the pub. That glint in his eyes though, it scared Neville.

It was a certain glint that held a desire for vengeance, for answers. It was aching to hit something.

Last night, after the slayer had left and Professor McGonagall came into the meeting, it was revealed that Harry Potter was most likely the Dayshadow. Objections had been issued but were overridden with fact after fact that without a doubt he was the one they were looking for. The pieces had all fallen into place.

Dumbledore then asked that he, Ron and Hermione continue to act normally around Harry, like they didn't know anything. He had said that he didn't want Harry to know that they knew as he didn't want to spook Harry away or cause him any alarm until he had a chance to speak with him. It didn't make all that much sense to Neville but he complied nonetheless to Dumbledore's wishes, as did everyone else. He knew what he was doing. Or so Neville hoped.

But Ron and Hermione were being more then a little obvious. You would think that after six years they would be a little better at keeping secrets. While Neville pretended to not know anything, he had to agree with Ron that it was freaky. Harry was some sort of half-vampire… thing, and he was curious. He was always curious, and that curiosity had gotten him into trouble more often then not. But try as he might he just couldn't seem to smother that cat like curiosity.

But at the moment, Neville wasn't sure it was such a bright idea to hide this from Harry. He seemed downright mad and Neville couldn't for the life of him think of what had made him change attitudes so suddenly, from their table to the bathroom.

Harry completely ignored Hermione and Ron, blew off Hermione's questioning and made his way out the door.

Neville was right behind him and Ron and Hermione following, but when he stepped outside he had to catch himself from running into Harry, who stood on the street totally rigid.

"Harry! What the…" Neville stopped again when he looked at Harry.

His eyes brows furrowed together, lips parted, jaw clenched. His green eyes were so hard and icy that Neville couldn't stop the hair that raised on the back of his neck or the shiver that racked his whole body. All he could do was stare at Harry, more scared then he was awed by the complete change in his demeanour.

Neville turned to see if his friends were noticing the same thing he was. Ron was frowning gripping Hermione hand until both their fingers were white.

"Vampires."

Neville heard Harry whisper and he turned to look at him once again. His face had gone lax, his jaw had relaxed and his eyes were skittering through the crowd seemingly looking for someone.

"Harry what are you talking about?" Neville asked. But it was obvious that Harry wasn't listening.

"Harry?" he was worried now, Harry's face was expressionless, but his eyes were glassy. This wasn't good, whatever _this _was, it definitely couldn't be good.

Neville could feel the inevitable edges of panic creeping into his mind, so he did the first thing that came to his head. He grasped Harry's shoulder and shook it.

"Harry!" he snapped.

He swallowed the 'eep' that almost tumbled out of his mouth when Harry, out of nowhere reached out and snatched the front of his Jacket and pulled him in close. Very close. A little too close for Neville's liking.

"Get everyone back up to Hogwarts."

Neville felt his eyes bug out. Harry's voice was harsh and demanding, a far cry from the smooth rumble he had grown used to.

"Now!" Harry barked and let him go.

Neville stood on the spot and watched as Harry disappeared into the mass of people.

"What the hell was that?!"

Neville nearly jumped out of his skin. He had forgotten his two friends were behind him. He turned around and seen Ron scratching the back of his head dumbfounded and Hermione looking where Harry stood not a moment before.

"I don't know guys, but I think we should do as he says," Hermione stated as she worried the bottom of her lip. Neville nodded his head after a moment.

Just when they were about to turn and start telling the student to head back up to the castle something caught all of their attention.

A profound _gong_ echoed through the air.

"Look, it's the bell tower," Hermione pointed, as did many others. For a good reason too. Neville, himself was looking over at the old tower in the distance.

The same bell tower that had no bell to ring but it did ring. Yet it rang three portentous times before it stopped.

Somebody screamed.

They were too late.

More screams and yells erupted throughout the town. People were running every which way. Neville soon understood why. He only got a glimpse before he was soon getting tussled and thrown about in the mass of people trying to get away, _any_ way.

There in the middle of the street stood a man, clutching the limp form of a woman. Blood dribbled out of his mouth and down his chin. The deep crimson colour standing out profoundly against the white of his skin. Neville let a cry escape his lips, it was a vampire and there were more of them chasing the people of Hogsmeade, adults and students alike.

"Get to Hogwarts!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. He used magic to amplify his voice. "GET TO HOGWARTS NOW!" he yelled much louder. Nobody knew what was going on, hell, Neville didn't know what was going on but he now understood the urgency in Harry's voice.

Ron and Hermione had long since been lost in the mill of people but Neville pushed forth gabbing people that ran past him in the opposite direction and telling them to get up to the school. He was very glad for the school rule stating that none under third year and no one without permission was allowed to go to Hogsmeade. At least third years were more matured then fist or second years. Neville really didn't want to think about the bigger mess this would be if younger children were visiting the town.

He just hoped against hope that these vampires weren't about to charge into the school. Like Morgan had said the night before, the wards around the school won't protect anybody against the undead.

-o0o-

Harry whipped around.

His stance automatically went into the defence mode. Across from him was a vampire, drinking blood from one unfortunate woman who had happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Harry twisted his wrist and his dagger fell lightly into his waiting hand. Once again thanking whatever god was listening for his constant paranoia, he knew he kept his weapons with him at all times for a reason.

Just when the vampire let the body drop to the ground, Harry pulled back his arm and let the dagger fly straight into the Vamp's heart. He turned to flame and dust before he even knew what had happened.

Harry summoned his knife back while he ran over to the fallen woman. He pressed two fingers on her throat, just under the jaw, opposite the garish ripped bite mark. He waited a couple seconds but he felt no pulse, Harry sighed and stood up. He pulled a vial of holy water out and sprinkled it in the holes. At least this was one victim that wouldn't turn. He took a quick look around. The crowd was thinning fast, everyone smart enough were already heading up to the school. Others stood frozen on the spot, green and looking about ready to throw up. He spotted a boy on the other side of the street, young by the looks of him. The poor kid was staring at the dead body unblinking.

Harry let out a small growl and stalked over to the kid. He couldn't blame the kid, he probably had never seen a dead body before but in a time like this, it was most defiantly _not_ the time to freeze up.

He reached the kid and without hesitating slapped the poor boy across the face.

"Wha.. Wha..?"

The kid was breathing fast, and looking every which way so Harry once again slapped him just a little bit harder on the face.

"Hey! Kid, get it together!" Harry shook him and got him to look at him. "Get back up to the castle, okay?"

A small nod was all Harry needed before he pushed to kid in the direction of the school.

The town was pretty much empty now, which made Harry happy that the place could evacuate so fast but he didn't linger on that thought as another vampire jumped down right in front of him.

It was a girl with short, curly blonde hair. She sneered at him and reached out to grab him around the neck. Harry was quicker through, he easily side stepped the hand, balled his fist up and hit her square in the jaw. The blow sent the vamp stumbling sideways. When she turned to face Harry again she spat out a mouthful of blood, landing dangerously close to Harry's boots.

"That's not nice, didn't your momma ever teach you it's rude to hit a girl?" she said, running her tongue across her pointed fangs, licking the blood off them.

"Really? Oh jeez my bad," Harry replied, scrunching up his face, seriously resisting the urge to gag.

The vamp let out a sharp cackle, throwing her head back, curls bouncing lightly on her shoulders.

"Please, spare me the dramatics," Harry said to the vampire as she laughed. He stared at her in an almost disinterested way while he pulled out his dagger and got ready to throw it.

When she looked back at him she opened her mouth to say something back but never got that far. In the blink of an eye a shiny silver dagger protruded out of her chest. Harry took two steps forward and grabbed the deadly knife before it hit the ground with the lingering dust.

Looking around he noticed the street he was on was deserted. Deciding he needed a better look at things so he gazed upward and ended up smirking.

He ran in between two buildings, kicked off the one side and grasped the top of the opposite building. He braced his feet on the wall and with one powerful push he flipped over the top, landing on the roof in a semi crouched position.

His head shot up. It looked like he wasn't the only one with this idea, four vampires stood crouched on the other side. Conversing in low tones. He stayed crouched and snuck up close behind them. They were young, Harry reasoned, that was why they didn't notice him when he got that close. All the better for Harry.

He took out two wooden stakes, and as he stood behind two nimrods, twirled his weapons in his hands before abruptly driving them deep into the backs of the vamps. He harshly twisted the stakes and ripped them out.

The other two stood dumbstruck for a second, staring at the spot where their buddies were a few seconds ago. Harry smirked at them, he was giddy and his adrenaline was pumping.

He was ready for the fist that came flying his way. He grabbed the offending wrist and twisting his body, used the momentum to throw the vamp down on the ground. He lifted his leg and kicked the other advancing vampire in the chest, sending him backwards and on his back.

He had to jump to avoid getting tripped by the closer vamp, who had swung his legs out attempting to knock Harry down.

The other vamp had jumped to his feet and sent a punch at him, which Harry had just barely been able to block. They traded blows for a minute before Harry got the first opening and used it to drive his dagger into the others heart. Just as Harry ripped it out he was tackled to the ground.

Damn, he forgot about the last vamp.

"Who the hell are you?" Blondie (as Harry had dubbed the vamp) hissed, fangs bared.

He was pinned on top of Harry and looked a little like a crazed lunatic, but really what vampire wasn't a crazed bloodthirsty lunatic?

"Ah newbie's, still too young to tell the difference," Harry stated mocking him wistfully. He was cut off as the vamp pushed down hard on his throat. Harry rolled his eyes.

He easily flipped Blondie off him, and within the next second Harry was the one pinning Blondie to the ground.

"My turn."

Harry pulled out his dagger and pressed it against Blondie's throat. A slight sizzle came from the area Harry touched with the dagger.

"Now I'm going to ask you some questions and if you answer I just might let you live."

Blondie was looking at him with wide eyes, obviously not ready to die… again… permanently.

"For starters," Harry said as he glared at the vampire. "It's the middle of the day," he deadpanned.

Blondie just looked at him, in a perplexed, confused sort of way. Harry growled and pressed the dagger down harder causing the skin around it to burn.

"How?" Harry hissed bringing his face closer to Blondie.

"It's a potion, alright? A potion!" Blondie yelled back. He was young and not yet totally accustomed to being a vampire and it had Harry grinning. Looks like this guy was going to answer some questions. But a potion? How on earth could a potion let vampires run around during the day?

Harry once again pressed the dagger down harder, silently asking to elaborate.

"Check my pocket… it's in my pocket – just take it!" Blondie yelled, more then a little desperate for his undead life.

Harry continued to stare at him for a second before decided to check. He kept his eyes trained on Blondie as he reached his hand inside the others jacket and felt around until he grasped something small. He pulled it out and looked at it. It was a long skinny vial filled with… well purple goop by the looks of it. Harry stared at it for another minute before bringing his eyes back to the now shivering Blondie.

"So what? This is, like, some sort of vamp sun block?" At Blondie's nod he continued. "Alright, who made it?"

"I don't know! Please I don't know!"

"Why are you here?" Harry asked, deciding to take the conversation in a different direction. He took one last look at the vial before stuffing it into his own pocket.

"Look, we ah…" Blondie paused and gulped audibly. "All of us were given two vials of that potion and told to attack Hogsmeade. That's all I know, I swear that all I know!"

"Who are you working for?" Harry growled; he was getting impatient. This vamp wasn't giving him all that much info anymore. Attack Hogsmeade? He'd already figured that one out.

When the vampire made a show of pausing, Harry lost any sort of patience he had with Blondie and rammed his knife into the vamps shoulder.

Blondie cried out and his body jerked and twitched under Harry. The skin started to smoke and burn with a rancid smell that Harry ignored. If he left the silver dagger in there for long enough it would eventually kill Blondie.

"You want to tell me now?" he asked sweetly, keeping the vamp firmly pinned down.

"Okay, okay! It's the H3! Alright? The H3. They made a deal with Voldemort and now they're calling every vampire in the world here! That's it! Okay?! That all I know!"

Harry frowned and bit his lip. Well, he was right when he thought the vampires were working with Voldemort. But the H3? He never met them before but he knew all about them. He'd interrogated enough vamps in the past to get the idea of who and what the H3 actually were. This was not good news. What would Voldemort have that they would want? Harry was thinking it seriously had to do something with the newly discovered potion.

"What was the deal?"

"I don't know, she didn't tell us anything! All I know is that this has got something to do with the Dayshadow."

Huh?! Harry almost snorted, did this vamp not even realise who he was? This was just too good.

Harry stiffened as he heard somebody yelling. He'd spent too much time with Blondie, there was still other vamps around that probably knew more then this one. He looked back down at Blondie and twisted the dagger as he ripped it out cringing at the high pitched yell the vamp made.

Harry jumped lightly back onto his feet, amused at Blondie. The vamp scrambled to his feet and made to go past Harry but Harry stopped him by putting a hand on his chest and pushing him back.

"Where do you think your going?" he asked while Blondie glared at him.

"What, you're gonna kill me?" he hissed. "I answered your pathetic questions"

Harry's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Now this guys trying to act tough.

"I lied," Harry replied and without further notice stabbed the vamp in the heart.

Idiot.

He turned around and jogged to the far corner of the building.

He quickly scanned the area, being up a little higher he could easily see what was going on.

"Crap!" he cursed before vaulting over to the next building.

At the far end of the street stood Neville and Ginny and to make things worse there were about ten vampires closing in on them.

-o0o-

Ginny was _very_ puzzled.

She didn't know what was going on. One minute everyone was laughing having a good time and the next people were screaming and running for their lives.

She got jostled by the crowd and ended up getting separated from her friends. What had happened? She heard someone yell to get back to Hogwarts. Was it a Death Eater attack? She pulled out her wand and gripped it hard. She tried to get some good footing but it was extremely hard when people kept pushing past her. She finally lost her footing and went tumbling to the ground.

Nobody seemed to care that she fell, it was pretty much every man for himself the way things were right now. Ginny groaned as she brought herself onto her knees.

Oh man I got my dress dirty!

Oh man I lost my wand!

She scanned the area for her wand and spotted it beside Zonko's. So she crawled over to it, giving a triumphant yell when she picked it up. Ginny stood up and hissed in pain when she noticed that her knees and elbows were scraped up. She then looked around and noticed that the town had cleared out pretty fast.

Not good. She grasped her wand and took of at a run towards Hogwarts. She was really getting scared and she was alone, which wasn't helping her state of mind. But she was partly glad no one was around because she would most like loose control over her… gift. Like all magic, it was tied into her emotions but she was learning how to control, she liked to think she was getting really good at turning it on and off.

Just had she got to the edge of town someone jumped into her path about 12 feet away from her, blocking the path back up to the school. She went to go around but the stranger followed her every move.

This was creepy, the guy had short cropped brown hair, the palest skin she had ever seen, she could even see the blue and purple veins through the milky white skin. And he had… he had… tinted red….

That was when she made eye contact.

Her wand slipped almost gracefully from her limp hand.

Ginny froze as her sight took over and she was uncontrollably sucked into a world of nothing but blackness.

-o0o-

Neville ran through the town, he was positive there was nobody left behind so he ran back to the school. He had a deep bloody gash on his cheek, and he was sweaty and almost to the point of exhaustion, but otherwise was fine.

He didn't know how to fight hand to hand, so whenever he came across one of those vampires he just used a reducto curse and ran in the opposite direction. Not very effective, he knew, but it worked for him.

As he turned a corner he spotted somebody standing in the middle of the street stock still. It was a girl, her sun dress was flowing in the wind and red hair was whipping about.

"Ginny!" Neville yelled realizing just who it was that was standing there. She didn't move when he called her name, which bothered Neville on a whole new level.

That's when he noticed a vampire creeping up the left side of Ginny. Neville's eyes widened and he yelled out to Ginny again but to no avail.

"Reducto!" he yelled. The spell hit the vampire in the chest and sent him flying away from the small red head.

He took the chance and ran full out, stumbling a little, with one thing in mind.

Get to Ginny. Get to Ginny. Get to Ginny, he chanted over and over in his head as he ran straight towards her.

As he reached her, he grabbed her arm and tried to pull her away but she wouldn't budge. It was like trying to pull a young sapling out of the ground, she was rooted to the spot.

"Ginny, come we have to get out of here!" he yelled at her but she wasn't moving. He looked around and felt his heart jump up to his throat.

There were no less then ten Vampires all around the two of them, and just like predators, they were slowly closing in. Neville held tightly to his wand with one sweaty hand, his other hand gripping Ginny's arm. It was useless there were too many of them; he didn't know any spells that would kill them. He had his back turned to Ginny, watching five advancing vampires. His wand kept jumping to each one of them every time they took a step closer.

But with his back turned, he couldn't watch the other vampires slowly advancing closer and closer to them on Ginny side, he wasn't even thinking about it. In all the panic he had forgotten that Ginny was otherwise incapacitated.

-o0o-

Harry jumped and leaped until he was on the roof of a building directly over Neville and Ginny.

Neville had his back to Ginny as he watched five press forward slowly on them. But Ginny was rigid and staring straight at something. Harry followed her line of sight and seen a vampire that was about ten feet away. He had his arms crossed as he stared back at Ginny with a wicked gleam in his eyes and a smirk on his face.

That was when Harry, with a small start, remembered Ginny had that weird ability. The conversation he had with her replayed in his mind and he realised that if she lost control with him she was probably lost with the Vampires. But right now there was another vamp, no less then four feet away from the redhead. Harry looked back at Neville but he didn't seem to notice.

He took a deep breath and vaulted over the two story building. He landed crouched directly in front of Ginny facing the Vampire, who had his arm outstretched ready to grab the girl.

Harry grabbed the offending arm and pulled, lifting his leg and kneeing the vamp in the ribs three hard times. Harry let go and before the vamp could get his bearings Harry thrust a stake into his heart.

As that vamp turned to dust Harry turned to Neville, grabbed his arm and whipped him around. To his credit Neville had his wand pointed directly at Harry but once he saw him let his arm drop to the side and it was almost as if he sagged with relief at seeing him.

Harry then moved Neville to stand directly in front of Ginny. He didn't know if this was going to work but he sure as hell hoped it did.

"Look at her Neville," he said when Neville was looking at him. "Look her dead in the eye. I don't have time to explain, just do it!" he demanded. Neville nodding, wide eyed, and looked at Ginny. Taking one surprisingly steady hand he reached up and touched her face. Neville didn't know what the hell Harry was talking about but found himself trusting him. But when he looked into Ginny's eyes, he felt his own eyes widen in shock. Ginny, her eyes, her sparkling hazel eyes were completely white. Neville had to force himself to keep eye contact with her, but there was something very disconcerting about staring into those white eyes.

Harry let his eyes watch the Vampires around them, they seemed to have stopped coming any closer at the sight of Harry but they were now circling them like caged animals. Virtually leaving no room for escape.

"Ginny? Ginny look at me?" he heard Neville; a quick glance told him that he was slowly getting through to her.

"Neville I'm going to do something, just don't break eye contact with her okay?" he warned knowing that his plan was working.

He saw Neville nod out of the corner of his eye and that was all he needed before he started to concentrate on the magic in the tattoos on his wrists. His arms hanging by his side, seemingly useless while he faced the trail up to Hogwarts. The vampires stopped and were staring at Harry suspiciously and tensed up waiting to see what he was going to do. Harry's fingers started to twitch and jump as he felt the power start to build up.

Now was the tricky part, getting his hands to slam together. Doing that was tough since it was like the negative side of two magnets, no matter how hard a person tries, they can never get those sides to stay together.

Harry took a deep breath and with more strength then he looked like he had, he brought his arms up and with a muffled yell slammed his hands together.

The result was instantaneous. A huge, invisible shockwave erupted from his hands and blew out in a wide circle sending all the vampires, within a twenty-foot radius, flying backwards and off their feet. Harry took a deep gasping breath, it always took too much energy to make that happen, and he always forgot to breathe too.

He didn't have a lot of time, already he could see the now confused Vampires starting to stir and get to their feet. Harry turned to Neville and Ginny. He could see beads of sweat rolling down Ginny's face while she stared at Neville, but her eyes were slowly gaining their color back. Which was a good sign. With a burst of inspiration, Harry took the sunglasses off his face and stuffed them onto Ginny's face not really knowing if it was going to make a difference.

Harry grabbed them both and pushed them towards the school since it seemed Ginny was at least able to move again.

"Get out of here!" Harry yelled at them. He turned and kicked the vampire that was watching Ginny earlier in the chest, leaving a small escape route for the two. That particular vamp was only ten feet away when Harry made the shockwave so he wasn't hit with the brunt of it, merely pushed back a couple of feet.

Harry was then tackled to the ground by another vamp, Harry turned his head to see Neville still standing there, holding up a weak Ginny.

"Go!" Harry yelled before flipped on top of the vamp and throwing a stake at other one that was getting closer. He didn't look back to see if he went or not but he was pretty sure he wouldn't just leave Ginny all defenceless like that.

Harry was on his feet and blocked hits that were coming at him from all sides. Blankly, he heard a series of loud pops alerting him that Aurors had _finally_ arrived. He didn't have the time to get angry at the incompetence of the ministry, besides they probably didn't know the first thing about fighting vampires in the first place.

-o0o-

Albus Dumbledore was running with all due haste down the trail to Hogsmeade with a few of the teachers, bar the head of houses. He had ordered them to get everyone to their respective houses and do a head count.

Sirius Black knew Dumbledore was behind him but that didn't stop him from out right sprinting down the trail. He noticed two people stumbling back up the trail, a young boy and girl by the looks of them. As he got closer he realised that said boy and girl were in fact Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley.

He picked up that pace and got to them in record time. He was still out of breath as he looked at them, they seemed fine enough. Neville was holding up a pale, sweaty faced Ginny and he had a rather deep cut on his cheek.

"Padfoot!" Neville exclaimed when he seen him.

"Neville, are you alright?" he asked, which was really the first thing that came to mind.

"Vampires, it was vampires!" Neville said, eyes wide. The whole situation was catching up to him now that he had seen a teacher.

"What? Neville what are you talking about? They said there was an attack," Sirius said, not helping as he was getting worked up and confused about it too. Vampires?! What was Neville talking about? Vampires don't walk around in the middle of the day, and under a bright sun no less.

"Padfoot," Neville said again grabbing his arm and looking at him with distraught eyes. "Harry... He… he's still down there."

That was all Sirius needed to hear before he took off down the beaten path again just as Dumbledore caught up with him with the other teacher in tow.

All reasoning disappeared from his mind as he raced down to Hogsmeade. His godson was down there, his godson was in trouble. The simple fact that his godson was the Dayshadow and not completely helpless, escaped him.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he got to the border of Hogsmeade, and all he could do was stare as did many other Aurors that were standing around the town with dropped jaws.

There was Harry Potter in the opening of the street, fighting off five blood suckers like it was easy.

Sirius stared more shocked then anything at the pure skill his godson showed.

-o0o-

Harry grunted in pain when one Vampire hit him rather painfully in the kidney. His moment of pain cost him, as he was once again tackled to the ground.

He growled in frustration when he realized he lost his knife. Summoning his knife back was easy when he knew where it was. Otherwise to do it when he didn't know where it was usually took a couple seconds of concentration; time he just couldn't spare. Harry had both his arms up covering his face; the vamp that was currently on top of him was snarling and snapping his teeth at him. Harry gave up trying to push the sucker off him, so he gripped both sides of the vamp's face with his hands and with one swift jerk snapped the neck.

He rolled out of the way as the vamp turned to dust and ended up having to roll again when a foot stomped down on the ground where his head was just seconds before. Harry swiftly flipped back on his feet, fists at the ready, right tucked tightly by his chin, the left down by his stomach.

He scanned the remaining four vampires. These guys were young too, more brawn then brain. He could see the Aurors and a few teachers along with Dumbledore standing on the sidelines.

Yeah, just stand there like a bunch of idiots.

Harry swiftly sidestepped the vamp that had the bright idea to try and tackle him again. The vamp fell down to the ground, but another one grabbed him from behind and pinned his arms back. When another came at him from the front, Harry threw all his weight back on the vamp holding him and lifted both his legs in the air. He then hit the offending vamp right square in the face, using the momentum to flip over the vamp holding him and wrapped an arm around his head. With a sharp jerk Harry snapped his neck and the vamp knew no more.

Where the hell is my dagger?!

He jerked his elbow back and cracked the vamp that was none too subtly sneaking up behind him and sent him reeling backwards. At the same time he caught the foot that was aimed for his side with his other hand. He then grabbed the foot with both hands and twisted it sharply, sending the vampire twirling to the ground.

After that, he caught a glint of something shiny in his peripheral vision. Almost as if it was innocently calling Harry, there was his precious dagger lying innocently on the ground a few feet away.

Harry smirked and dived towards. He rolled into the dive and was back on his feet in an instant, dagger in hand. He had wandlessly summoned it the last few meters during the dive. He just had to love that wandless summoning ability of his.

He turned on his heels and let the knife fly out of his hand. The dagger hit a vamp in the chest halting him in mid air. Harry stalked forward, grabbing his weapon while it was still in the air and the vamp was dusting out and faced off against the last vamp.

To Harry's amusement, the guy looked a mixture between down right scared and furious, what made it so funny was that the vamp's face was covered in his own blood and his nose was so obviously broken from when Harry had kicked him in the face. The vampire attacked without warning, or words, which had Harry raising his pierced eyebrow. Usually these vampires took joy in chewing their victim's ears out before they tried to kill them.

The vamp moved forward with inhuman speed but Harry anticipated that and took one step backwards before he instantly plunged his oh so handy dagger into the vampire's heart.

He ripped it out with more force then necessary, casually flipped it in his hand before safely tucking it back in its holster.

This didn't feel right.

It was almost too easy; all the vampires he had come across were young and stupid. The whole attack seemed almost… choreographed. He was tired from the fight, but he'd had tougher battles with fewer opponents in the past. He just didn't get the whole scene, it wasn't adding up in Harry's books. If the H3 were behind this whole thing, wouldn't they find vampires… he didn't know, a little more _qualified_?

Harry sighed and with sweat dripping down his temple, closed his eyes to see if there were anymore of the suckers slinking around. He held up a hand telling the other people around him to stay put and let loose his tracking sense. It was a way vampires talked with one another. If you were in range, you could sense them. Emotions sometimes flowed along this sense but the few times Harry had felt them, they had been faint as the vamps didn't really show much emotion beyond anger, hunger, and disdain at their food source.

He was sucked up to an overhead view of Hogsmeade but it seemed that all the remaining vampires had done the smart thing and gotten out of the town. He frowned when he caught a faint almost non-existent feeling of a vampire. Harry figured it might be on lone vampire outside the town but decided to follow the trail anyway. His vision swirled into a downward spiral, and his breath hitched when his vision stopped right behind him. There was a woman standing right behind him and he hadn't even sensed it!

Blazing green eyes snapped open. Harry clenched his fist and brought his elbow straight back but whoever was behind him caught it easily so he wrenched his elbow out of the grasp, snatched his dagger out of its holster and turned using all the force he could muster turned and swung his arm around before coming to an abrupt stop.

The tip of the silver blade halted not two centimeters away from the vampire's eye.

She held Harry's wrist tightly and had a wicked smirk on her stunning face. A face that Harry recognized all too well.

It was that girl. The one he met at the club. It was then that Harry realized, like a sharp slap in the face, that it was all a set up. This entire situation was an elaborate set up to get Harry to come out of the shadows and right smack dab into the spotlight.

Harry pulled an incredulous look on his face as he stared at the girl.

"Aww F#$!" he swore.

-o0o-

Sirius found himself unable to move.

All he could do was stare at the scene before him. His godson was just standing there staring at what had to be the most beautiful woman he had ever saw. Where had she come from? He hadn't even seen her walk up to his godson. Harry was partly blocking her with his back turned facing the mysterious beauty.

He vaguely noted that two more male vampires had shown themselves on either side of the woman a distance away from her. But he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was smiling widely at Harry, her hand still firmly wrapped around his wrist.

It was when he saw Harry let out a choked gasp, his back going dead rigid that Sirius was able to look away. Harry, he had to help him. He tightened his hold on his wand and took off. He got about two steps in the right direction before he was roughly jerked back by the back of his robes.

He turned to throw whoever grabbed him off, but stopped when he saw it was Mad Eye.

"Don't," Moody grunted.

Sirius opened his mouth to ask what the hell he was talking about but never got that far as Mad Eye interrupted him by sticking his hand up for silence. He wasn't looking at Sirius but rather looking over at Harry.

"It's the H3." Sirius whipped his head around so fast that he could have sworn he heard a crack. He looked at the three mysterious vampires in a new light. It fit; all three of them excluded a power that just screamed for attention and respect. He watched the scene before him again waiting for Harry to do something, anything. Wasn't he going to fight? Why were they all just standing there? When he heard Harry cry out and grip his head he had enough of watching. And waiting.

"We have to help him!" Sirius said as he tried again to go to his godson's aid and was once again pulled back.

"You go now you die," Mad Eye grunted still staring avidly at the three. "It's suicide and you know it."

"I don't care! I have to help him Mad Eye!" he said in desperation.

Whatever Mad Eye was about to say next was cut off. There was a severe wallop and a distinct snap and he found himself watching with horror-filled eyes as Harry went sailing through the air, landing roughly and sliding across the ground.

Sirius took off even before Harry came to a complete stop. He got to Harry as he had stopped and rolled onto his back.

Sirius fell down onto his knees beside Harry.

"Harry? Harry can you hear me?" he panicked when Harry tried to breathe but ended up coughing up blood. Sirius felt Harry's pulse and found it was slowly getting weaker. His eyes were wide and unseeing as he tried to breathe.

"Harry? Say something, come on stay with me," but he didn't, his eyes rolled back and his head fell to the side.

Unmoving.

Looking back down the street, the three Vampires just vanished without a trace they weren't there anymore. It was like they were never there at all.

-o0o-

One hundred percent tainted power crashed over him, through to his very soul, like a wild wave. Harry stared into two matching striking violet eyes, she had let loose her entire power and it hit Harry full on with no mercy. He gasped and his dagger slipped from his hand landing with a diminutive clanking sound that went unnoticed.

He tried to snap his senses shut and close them off from her but she was keeping them pried right open.

Her touch was like icy poison and those eyes. Those endless depths of pure _nothingness_ were gradually drowning him.

He had to look away, look anywhere but her. Anywhere but those violet eyes. It frightened him and vampires don't scare him. No, it was her eyes, looking into them was like looking into Hell itself. Heat, unbearable heat and unimaginable death, yet he felt like he was drowning in freezing waters, trapped under a thick sheet of ice.

Like a childish game of tug a war, Harry found himself pulling as hard as he could, until finally, _bloody finally_, he managed to tear his eyes out and away from the nightmare she was pushing him into.

She still grasped his wrist with one delicate hand, her thumb ran smoothly up and down, caressing his skin, but Harry ignored it, what he was worried about right now was just breathing, getting that desperately needed oxygen into his burning lungs. When he looked away he took one single deep shuddering breath. Gasping and letting the air in and out, in and out erratically. He couldn't get his bearings, he was panicking, and he knew it.

Even when he felt his heart rate slow a little bit it wasn't enough, it was like he had the worst possible luck because just when he calmed down the slightest he heard it, the sound that haunted his dreams. He felt his heart jump into his throat and his stomach drop.

That caw of a crow.

That laughter in his head.

His eyes widened and his head snapped up to the sky. The clear blue sky was absolutely cloudless, so it was impossible to miss the dark black shape. Harry followed the crow with his eyes as it descended swiftly, unnaturally graceful for its kind, and landed on an outstretched arm.

He stared at the crow, afraid to look at the owner. Slowly, ever so slowly he trailed his eyes up the arm, to the pale skin of the neck, then the face, the face that haunted his dreams, the face that Harry was all too familiar with. Long silky black hair flutter around his handsome features, red tinted eyes looked directly at him, a cocky smile plaster on his face. He looked into those eyes and just like before he was lost in the darkness.

Except this time it was the laughter that he heard in his head. It increased to an ultimately unbearable level. That was all he could hear, and that _caw;_ that distorted horrifying _caw_ weaved in and out. Harry couldn't handle it, couldn't take it. He felt his eyes start to burn and skull start to crack.

That was when the information exchange kicked in. His vampire ability was an unknown to the rest of the vampire community and he preferred it that way. Some of his skills were already known – enhanced strength, durability, flexibility, healing. What wasn't known was that he used those magically enhanced vamp neurons of his to locate his enemy at times and then ruthlessly take them down. He'd researched it as best he could over the years. As close as he could tell, it was similar to legilimency. But it only worked on vamps.

This was the first time Harry had every gotten anything but emotions out of them. There was no anger. Just coldness. And then images. Names. Places. Sights. Sounds. Knowledge.

The H3. Three friends, graduates of Hogwarts, traveling to Italy to meet their benefactor in 1487. Attacked. Turned. Assuming power over the next few years. Edmund Crowfield, alias: the Crow. Called that before being turned as his familiar was a crow. An ability that apparently followed him in death.

Harry's face contorted into a pained expression. He cried out and with his one free hand reached up and gripped his hair painfully, but he couldn't feel it, he couldn't shut his eyes and look away from the vampire and the black crow.

He couldn't breathe.

Couldn't hear anything but that laughter, laughter that was about to drive him insane. It was scraping the inside of his head and he could feel the sick pleasure the vampire was feeling because of it.

When the vampire took his bloodshot eyes off Harry and looked at his crow, running long pale fingers across the bird's feathers, Harry got a small chance to look away and he took it, desperately.

Problem with that he looked directly at another one. Harry eyed the other male standing near the Crow. Slightly smaller than his colleagues, Etienne DeMarco, alias: Big Red. Smaller but bulkier than the other two. He was in charge of the muscle they used. He'd used many vamps to get his goals in the past, not caring if they "lived" or "died" again.

The last member of the H3 to be turned, one he apparently didn't have the pleasure of meeting previously. His body looked to be about 27, 28 when it died but Harry knew better, all three reeked of age and power. That same power that before felt so alluring now felt disgusting and rotten and his whole being recoiled at the feel of it.

His hair was tussled falling in loose waves to his shoulders. His pale dark blue eyes smirked at him as he leaned almost casually against a building, arms crossed. He sucked on one of his fangs in a bored manner.

God, he couldn't breathe, he wasn't able to manage a deep enough breathe to get his brain to work and shake of that god-forsaken control they had over him. They were destroying him, his sanity, his soul. He could feel it and it scared him to the point of hysterics.

Join us and you'll be made whole and well, he sensed.

The living part of his soul rebuked at the idea regardless of the torment he was in. He did not want to die.

He didn't feel the painful jerk on his arm that had him whipping around to once again face the woman.

She smirked at him but nothing was registering in his brain. He looked right back at her, his eyes burned with tears that would never fall, even in the state he was in.

"You're not so tough after all," she said in a slick mockingly sweet voice.

Harry continued to look at here, unable to comprehend what she said.

Watching as her deadly fangs elongated, a small _something_ clicked back into place.

Her deadly smirk faltered when her eyes flickered past his shoulder and landed on something behind him. She reached her other hand up and caressed his cheek with her thumb. Her long perfectly manicured nail digging into his skin, drawing blood.

"So. You've figured it out finally. Good. Have fun being the center of everybody's attention, Harry," she hissed her eyes flashing dangerously. She leaned in close to Harry, her lips ghosting over his ear, and whispered. "Don't worry; I'm not done with you."

While Harry was still trying to shake that detached feeling out of his head he didn't notice she let him go and stepped back a step. She drew back an arm and too late for Harry to do anything to stop it, she struck him. Directly in the chest, palm open.

The pure force of the hit knocked that precious air out of his lungs with a blunt distinctive crack and had him flying ten feet in the air and backwards.

Harry landed hard, tumbled, rolled and slid painfully on his side for what seemed like forever. When he at long last came to stop, he slumped onto his back and let out a pained grunt.

He hurt. Everywhere.

He tried to take a breath but realised too late that it was a bad idea.

Ribs…broken.

He started coughing and tried to take in some much need air. He heard the pounding of footsteps. Someone knelt down beside him and pressed two clammy fingers on him neck.

"Ha…ry…can….ar…ee?"

Whatever they were trying to say, Harry couldn't make it out. His ears were ringing and his head was throbbing. Everything was blurred and foggy.

Merlin, he hurt.

The edges around his vision started to blacken and with one last weak attempt at breathing he started to give into the darkness. He just couldn't get that last vamp's name out of his head. Katherine. The vamp community referred to her mostly as Katherine - the Great One, or simply Katherine the Great. Now Harry knew her true name. Her given name.

A name he recognized.

Katherine Potter.

Darkness.

-o0o-

Okay so hopefully not such a evil cliffie this time...

Bahh! Okay so so thats not where I wanted to end this chapter, but it was already getting too long and I had to stop somewhere. Gosh I was sooo nervous posting this chapter, I would make for one very happy writer if I got a review from any of you faithfull readers. I dont base my story on the amount of reviews I get, if that hit counter keeps going up then I'm happy :) but I would really love to hear what you guys thought.

Feedback? Comments? Complaints? Questions? Anything at all, I'd love hear it. :)

Peace\//


	12. A Penny For Your Thoughts?

Undead Secrets.

Disclaimer: Anybody else wondering why I still write these things?

A/N: Well... sorry for such a long wait, first I didnt know how to start this chapter, then this site went all funky and I couldnt uplaod the chapter but enough with my excuses. Thanks again to my beta **Steve2**, he helped me alot with this chapter. And can I just say HOLY COW!

I'm over a hundred reviews! That makes me all happy inside, I mean wow! I couldnt believe the amount of feedback I got on that last chapter alone! Thank you guys sooo much!

**rayama:** In third year, think of it a lot like what happened in the book. Sirius seen the photo of Pettigrew in the paper with the Weasley's so he escapes, goes to Howarts to get the rat, everyone thinks he's after Neville and yes Neville is a parslemouth. Not Harry. And thank you for the review too! I'm glad you find my story interesting. I would have just replied to you the normal way but for some annoying reason, I'm not getting my reviews sent to my email!

Anyways, as for this chapter. Well, its probably not what most of you were expecting. The majority of this chapter is from Harry's point of veiw. I'll admit I got a tiny bit stuck, so I wrote this chapter to help me get to where I want to go. Think of this as 'the eye of the storm' sorta thing. Anyhoot, chapter 13 will have the reactions and the backlash from the attack on hogsmaid and whatnot.

So, that's all I have to say...

**Chapter 12: A Penny for Your Thoughts?**

Neville's cheek itched painfully as Madam Pomfrey rubbed some foul smelling orange lotion into the cut.

Ginny had long since passed out from whatever the hell had happened to her, and she was now sleeping on the bed beside him. He had tried to ask the nurse what had happened to her but she shot Neville an unreadable look and stated that "she was just exhausted".

Yeah. Right.

That didn't make sense at all in Neville's book. If she were simply exhausted, why hadn't she collapsed in Hogsmeade? The two of them had been surrounded by vampires when Harry suddenly showed up and got them to safety. And how had he done that? He'd simply clapped his hands together that knocked the vampires away, and then put his sunglasses on Ginny.

Something was up with Ginny, and as strange as it was, Harry knew something about it. Nothing was making sense. He was so confused. Neville tried to get up and out of the dreadful hospital wing but one stern glare from the resident nurse and Neville felt like an 11-year-old boy again.

So now Neville sat, fidgeting with the hem of his robes and practically bouncing on the spot, waiting for the nurse to give him the okay to go. It wasn't like he was terribly hurt in the first place. A small cut on the cheek was not enough to warrant him a stay in the hospital wing for any longer then he had to.

Besides, he needed to know what was going on. _Vampires were in Hogsmeade. Vampires!_ And the bizarre thing about it was that it was just Ginny and himself that currently resided in the hospital wing. As relieved as he was that no one was hurt, he couldn't help but be puzzled by that fact.

He had pulled Ginny all the way from Hogsmeade to the castle. When he saw the professors on their way to help the town he was relieved, for all of about two seconds before Ginny started to stumble. He didn't know what had been going on with her, but knew it couldn't be good. Draping her arm over his shoulder, he got her back to the castle before she collapsed. Along the way, Neville didn't see any other students. He didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad one.

Not until he got to the infirmary. Initially he was relieved to not see any other students there. But then the chilling thought came to him: if any students had been drained, they wouldn't be in the infirmary. They'd be in the morgue being sanctified so they wouldn't come back as a vampire.

He'd have to wait until the professors returned and did a house check to see if any students were missing. God, he hoped none were gone.

But in all reality, he was sure someone had died. The scream they'd all heard before the vampires started making themselves known.

Ron and Hermione had up and disappeared on him and although he did trust his friends, it didn't stop him from worrying about them… about everything.

"Alright Mr..." Madame Pomfrey started to say, but was swiftly cut off when the hospital door burst open leaving a load bang in its wake.

Neville sprung up from his bed, ready to sprint out of the ward right when the nurse had opened her mouth, but like the nurse, he froze on the spot

Both Neville and Poppy turned towards the doors. Someone had, without hesitation, kicked open the double doors permitting the sounds of yells and heavy footfalls to slink its way into the previously silent room.

Sirius Black charged his way in.

"Poppy! I need you over here!" he yelled at the top of his voice, lost to the fact that the nurse was only four meters away.

Neville's heart jumped as he saw what came in behind Sirius.

Harry Potter came floating in on an invisible stretcher, torn and bloody. His head hung to the side, eyes closed to the world. A trail of blood leaked from his closed lips, streaking across his unmarred cheek. One arm was draped across his chest, the other hung limply down by his shredded up side. His t-shirt was in tatters; the skin on his arm and thigh was scratched and ripped.

Crimson blood trickled down his fingers and fell, staining the stone floor.

"Bring him over here!" Madame Promfrey said with the urgency in her voice that only healers carried.

Harry was lowered onto a bed with a soft _fwoomp_. This brought Neville out of his temporary shock; he sucked in a breath and ran over to the bed.

"What happened?!" he asked still looking at the beaten form of Harry.

"Help him Poppy! He's not breathing!" Sirius exclaimed, hysterical tears pooling into his distraught blue eyes.

"Padfoot! What happened?" Neville tried again but Sirius was too far gone to even listen. He was pacing back and forth at the foot of the bed mumbling under his breath, running his hand through his knotted hair.

A deep choking breath had both their heads snapping back to Harry. His back was arched off the bed and his hands clung to the sheets while Poppy had her wand pointed directly at his heart.

"Out! Out, both of you!" Poppy cut in, still concentrating, she was using a highly complicated healing charm that was helping Harry's heart to beat on its own again. "I can't help him with you here! Move!"

Sirius' head shot up and looked at the healer.

"Come on Padfoot, let Madam Pomfrey do her job," Neville said, his eyes wide still staring at Harry's bucking body as he made his way over to Sirius.

Neville finally tore his eyes of the struggling form on the bed and placed a hand on Sirius' chest. He slowly led Sirius back out the doors. Sirius took small noncompliant steps backwards, his pained eyes not leaving Harry.

The doors shut with a perceptible thunk. Sirius blinked dumbly at the door before he turned around and sank into the bench that was right beside the door, covering his face in his hands.

-o0o-

She was a sight to behold.

Tantalizing, some would call her.

Sitting lightly on an exquisite black leather chair; long silky black hair pinned back with style, showing her delicate face, heavy eye makeup bringing out her violet eyes. Shadows created from the fire danced across the room, leaving the atmosphere in the room relaxing and still.

Gracefully, she crossed one ankle over the other, bringing attention to the expensive black high-heeled stilettos. The red silk dress was form fitting, low cut, showing off flawless pale skin.

In one delicate hand she held a crystal wine glass filled with what could only be blood, while her chin rested on the other hand as she looked at her perfectly manicured nails holding her drink.

Her name was Katherine; she was a being that deserved to be feared. By all rights she had earned it.

She glanced up then, eyes alight with excitement.

"That was just too easy," she smirked, laughter in her voice.

Her companion, Edmund Crowfield, sat adjacent to her. Sprawled out on the leather couch his arms stretched over the back. Black tussled hair framed his rich race. His black silk shirt was unbuttoned leaving his bare, pale chest in view. He brought one arm closer, wine glass in hand and swirled the blood around in the glass. His expression was the same, but when he looked back at her his eyebrows pulled together.

"How do you know he will fall for it? This plan is tricky and you know very well we can't let him get away. We need him; _you_ need him," he said.

Katherine let out a smooth chuckle, uncrossing her legs she stood gracefully.

"Trust me Edmund."

"Trust is for the foolish," he stated, derisive at the very idea at being _trustful._

She ignored his outburst, taking smooth steps forward, pulling her black shawl snugly around her arms.

"You know as well as I that the boy will do anything to keep us away from the pathetic school. Let him come to us," she assured, taking a sip out of the glass in her hand. "And he will, once he finds out what Voldemort is planning."

He scoffed at the name, but kept his mouth tightly shut, glaring into his glass.

"Aww," the woman cooed moving behind the couch, running her hand up his arm. "Don't worry about Voldemort; he is too blinded by his own ideals, his own greed to see our plans. The inferior mortal won't get in our way," she whispered the last part leaning over, bringing her face next to Edmunds, breathing down his neck.

"We have to play our cards right Katherine, we can not afford to screw this up." He stared hard at her through the corner of his eyes and met her violet ones. They stared at each other in silence.

"You know him just as well as I," she stated. "You're his greatest fear, there is no need to worry so much," she nipped his ear.

He turned his cheek ghosting over her skin. "Etienne?" he asked closing his eyes and taking in her scent.

"He's out, tending to all those who answered my call," she answered kissing his neck.

She moved her arm over him and slid her hand down his chest, letting him tilt his head back. She smirked, revealing her glistening fangs as she dipped into the blood lust she was feeling.

"You worry too much Edmund; we have Harry Potter right in the palm of our hands."

-o0o-

"I've never come across anything like it Albus!"

Harry inwardly growled at the voice that so rudely pulled him out of that pleasant state between awake and asleep.

There was a pause and Harry was about ready to fall back into the blissful slumber he so wanted to go back to, but those ruddy voices! Didn't they know when to shut the hell up?

He heard shuffled feet and felt someone lean over him. Resisting the urge to jump up and strangle whoever it was, Harry kept his breathing steady and feigned sleep.

How long had he been out for? Harry didn't know, he did know that it must have been a good six hours. He felt rested and rejuvenated. The sun had also set; he knew that from the change in the atmosphere, the lessening of the thump-thump in his cranium. He almost smiled when he felt he was at least still in the school and not carted off to St. Mungo's.

_Okay, recap… _Harry thought. _Let's see, vampires in Hogsmeade, some silly potion letting them wander around in the sun, Ginny, Neville, the H3._

_Oh bloody hell! The H3! _Harry had to force himself to keep his breathing calm and even. Oh, he so did not want to think about that. They caught him off guard and he'd be damned if that was going to happen again. He did not want to feel that helpless ever again. He was _not going to be_ _that helpless_ _ever __**again**_.

"It's extraordinary," someone breathed. Harry paused and listened to the voices. There was more than one person in the room with him so he reached out attentively with his senses to see if he could recognize who they were.

He immediately knew there were no less then seven people in the room.

"When you brought him in he wasn't breathing," the voice that was right over him said. Harry figured that voice had to belong the school healer. "But when I was able to get his heart beating again… it's just… I couldn't believe the results."

_Oh great. _Harry thought annoyed. Now when he 'woke up' he was going to be drilled with questions, questions that he really didn't want to answer. He supposed he should've expected something like this to happen, especially after he announced himself so spectacularly to the world.

"Please continue Poppy," _Oh great: that's Dumbledore... _Nope, Harry wasn't planning on opening his eyes anytime soon.

The nurse cleared her throat before continuing. "His body is healing itself at an accelerated level. He came here this afternoon with four broken ribs, two fractured, a collapsed lung, various cuts and bruises, mainly on his left side, and a mild concussion." _Damn, that girl can pack a punch… what a bitch, long lost ancestor or not. What. A . Bitch. I really should look into that. _His thoughts trailed off when the nurse started talking again.

"And now… now he's practically healed, without any of my assistance. Take a look at his arm," she said and Harry had to stop himself from lashing out when he felt her grab his left arm, gently, with soft fingers. "He had a particularly deep cut right here." Harry felt her run a finger along the top of his hand. "A cut like that one would take weeks to heal on its own. With a potion's help it would still take days to recover any form of usability. Now, there's nothing but scar tissue here and already it's started to fade.

"I expect by morning that it will seem like he wasn't even attacked at all. With the rate Mr. Potter is healing on his own, not even my diagnostic spell will be able to trace the fact that his ribs were previously broken. Which brings me to my next concern. I ran the diagnostic spell and as you can probably tell, it came up with nothing. No past injuries, nothing. But, but when I ran the _magical _diagnostic spell, I came up with something, well... something particularly out of the ordinary."

If Harry's eyes were open, he would have blinked. What was wrong with his magic? Nothing as far as Harry could tell. So far it was just his magic that seemed to be the only normal thing he had. His magic didn't feel different; then again _he_ didn't feel different. Probably because he was used to his body and all of his... abilities.

"Mr. Potter has a massive magical reserve. And the most remarkable detail about it… well let's see… how can I explain this… When a witch or wizard uses an excessive amount of magic it takes time for their bodies to replenish that magic, just like it takes time to heal a cut the muggle way, and with Mr. Potter here, with his body being able to heal itself at such an accelerated level, it only makes sense that, no matter how much magic he uses, it always replenishes just as quickly."

At least that made sense in a weird way. Actually it did make a lot of sense, he just didn't think his… vampire traits carried over to his magic. Well this was good to know, it's no wonder he didn't burn out after using his 'shock wave' trick, the guy who did the tattoos did say that it took a lot of magic.

The room was silent again so Harry took the time to reach out and see if he knew the other inhabitants.

He already figured out that it was the healer and the Headmaster that were right next to him so he went a little further.

Ginny Weasley was in the bed next to his, by her deep breathing patterns she was sleeping. Neville Longbottom was beside her.

Professor McGonagall was at the foot of his bed and he caught Professor Snape's scent by the entrance.

_Urgg…talk about a freakin' audience._

Harry hesitated; there was one more person in the room, one that he recognized and one that made his insides squirm guiltily.

Sirius Black.

Harry was supposed to be with him right now, sitting down having a nice _normal_ dinner, taking about inane things like school and girls and instead Sirius was sitting here listening to the nurse explain just how freaky Harry was. There goes that relationship.

"When will he awaken, Poppy?" Dumbledore asked.

"I gave him my strongest sleeping potion, he should be asleep for the rest of night at least," the nurse replied.

So that was why he still felt all heavy, his immune system was fighting off the potion. Well, they don't need to know that now do they? If he could hide behind the fake sleeping then he was not going to pass up the opportunity. Bar the fact that he would have done it without the excuse.

"Just one more thing Albus?"

_Oh what now?_

"Yes Poppy?"

"It's just, I thought you should see this," she said, leaning over again. "Mr. Potter has two scars that didn't show up on my reports. Right on his neck."

Harry stiffened, they shouldn't be able to see those bite marks.

He could feel a hand getting closer and closer to the right side of his neck.

Just as the hand was reaching over his chest Harry had enough. No one, and he meant _no one, _was touching those scars. He reached up and snatched the offending arm around the wrist. His eyes snapped open and he glared at the school nurse.

Harry watched with mild satisfaction as Madam Pomfrey's eyes widened and she stared at him in shock.

"Mr. Potter," she shook herself, clearly flustered.

Harry squeezed her wrist lightly before letting go and pushing her arm away.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, glad to see you're awake," Dumbledore stated cupping his hands together.

Harry grunted sitting up and swung his legs over the bed. He carefully rubbed his hand over the right side of his neck, head dipped down. No one noticed that the bite marks were slowly disappearing.

He felt sluggish, but that was to be expected seeing how he was supposed to be out cold at the moment. He could feel eyes on him. Damn it, why did he have to 'wake up'? He did not want to deal with this right now.

Harry almost hesitantly lifted his head and looked up. The headmaster was looking at him with those godforsaken twinkling eyes, like he didn't have a single care in the world.

"How are you feeling Mr. Potter?" he asked similar to a person asking how their day went.

Harry almost snorted at the man but held back and settled with just looking at Dumbledore with his patented 'are you kidding me' look. That's when he noticed he was in one of those hospital issue gowns; he gave it a disgusted look and glanced at the foot of his bed.

He jumped up and went to where his jeans lay folded at the end of the bed. He blinked when he stood up, getting a major head rush and grabbing the end railing on the bed. Harry shook his head slightly. _Bloody stupid sleeping potion._

"Mr. Potter, get back in bed this instant," the nurse yelled, regaining her composure.

Harry looked back at her intending on giving her a solid 'no' when he caught sight of his holsters on the nightstand. He almost growled – they touched his things! He knew that thought was childish, but still, he did not like it when other people touched his things. For some odd reason it made him feel insecure, he _always_ had his weapons on him and he rarely removed his holsters to begin with.

His mind made up, he ditched his clothes and flopped back on the bed grabbing the leather holsters off of the nightstand. His wand was still in its holster: that was good. Not paying the least amount of attention to the stares he was getting, he strapped it back around his right ankle.

"Mr. Potter?"

He ignored the voice grabbing his second holster that normally held a wooden stake. The stake was gone but those were easily replaced, he could conjure, or transfigure one without even batting an eyelash. He strapped the empty holster firmly around his left forearm, covering the tattoo that lay on his wrist.

"Mr. Potter if you could…"

He ignored the voice again, grabbing the last holster. He looked at it and blinked. His dagger was gone! His precious silver dagger was missing. Harry groaned and smacked himself in the forehead.

"Mac's going to kill me," he mumbled. Pure silver daggers were hard to come by and very expensive. Sure he had lost his fair share of daggers before, counting this one his total would be five. Still, this dagger was by far his favourite. It was perfectly balanced, light and easy to handle.

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall finally yelled, having had enough with Harry's 'pretend they're not there' attitude.

Harry didn't even flinch at the angry tone his Professor used with him; instead he glanced up at her.

"You wouldn't have happened to see a shiny silver dagger kickin' around now would you?" he asked innocently enough. He regretted the action when Professor McGonagall's face flushed. "I'll take that as a no then," he added, interrupting her before she could say something. He was not in the mood to be lectured and yelled at.

He heard someone chuckle and looked over at the Headmaster. Of course it was him that chuckled; he was the kind of man that took everything in with a smile. The kind of man that annoyed Harry to the point of frustration. So he chose to ignore the headmaster.

His eyes kept trying to look over at Sirius but Harry did not want to look over at him. Quiet frankly, he was scared of what he was going to see. He did not want to see whatever look that had planted itself on his godfather's face. Harry didn't know what it was but he knew he did not want to see it.

To keep his eyes from straying over to Sirius, Harry glanced back at his jeans. The same jeans that held a very valuable potion in its pocket. He then looked over at Professor Snape, who stood in the back by the doorway.

Potion, Potions Master.

Harry looked the Professor up and down as the man glared back at him. He could give the potion he found to the overgrown bat or he could keep the potion a secret. Harry had no doubt that Snape would be able to figure how exactly the potion was working but there was the small fact that Harry didn't trust him. At all.

He shook his head. Nope, not going to happen. There was no way he was just going to hand over the potion to Snape, or Dumbledore for that matter.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Potter, that I am going to have to ask you some questions." Dumbledore's face changed from that of amusement to serious in a manner of seconds. "Please take into account that is imperative that you answer truthfully," he continued but Harry refused to meet his eyes; that was never a good idea in his book. Besides if he wanted Harry to answer his questions, he was not going to make it easy for any of the teachers.

_Here we go… _Harry sighed

"Albus!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed. "This is a hospital wing, not an interrogation room. If you want to question Mr. Potter you will have to wait until I release him from my ward."

Harry looked up at the healer a little shocked by her outburst. He assumed she wanted answers just as much everyone else in the room. He chanced a look at the Headmaster just in time to see that he sighed much like a resigned child that was ordered to clean their room.

"Of course, Poppy. Can I inquire as to when you will be releasing Mr. Potter?" he said. It annoyed Harry because they were talking like he was even in the room with them, but he nonetheless held his breathe.

"I would like to keep him overnight for observation." Harry bristled at the term and scowled at the nurse. "Now out all of you. I'm sorry Mr. Longbottom, but you can come back and see Miss Weasley in the morning," she finished pointing towards the door.

Snape swept out of the room followed closely by a stiff McGonagall, then a sullen looking Neville. He stopped at the doorway and looked back, Neville glanced over everyone still present in the room. His eyes stopped and softened on what Harry presumed was Sirius but he still refused to look over at him. Neville halted when he gazed at Harry, offering a small smile to him. Surprisingly Harry found himself returning the same small smile back. As Neville turned back around and left, Harry looked back at Dumbledore.

"Mr. Potter all I ask is that you meet me in my office tomorrow night," he stated. He silently left the room leaving Harry to think about what he wanted to do. Did he really want to go talk about this life? No, not really. But he couldn't blame them for wanting answers especially after Hogsmeade was attacked. It was because of him that those vampires were there in the first place. How many people had died? How many were now hurt be it emotionally or physically because of him? That blood was on his hands.

Harry was just about to voice that question, he looked up intending to do just that when he met the eyes of Sirius Black.

Neither said anything, just stared at each other. What bothered Harry was that he couldn't read the emotion that was shining out of Sirius' blue eyes.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, anything but stopped when he found he had no clue what he was going to say.

"I'm sorry."

Harry froze. Sirius' voice was soft, not condescending, not angry just, in a sense, broken. Sirius broke eye contact first, he turned and walked out of the hospital room not once looking back at Harry.

Harry sat, frozen on the spot. What exactly was he sorry about? What did he have to be sorry about?

"I suggest you get back to sleep Mr. Potter. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day for you," Madam Pomfrey stated while covering Ginny with a blanket and tucking her in with an almost motherly fashion.

All Harry could do was lean back in bed, his mind still whirling with what Sirius said to him.

He heard the click of a door, signifying the departure of the school nurse.

He thought about what he was going to do. Yes, he was going to go and talk to the Headmaster tomorrow, he had a feeling that he was going to be taking Harry to one of those order meetings. Harry liked it better that way, might as well get it all out in the open in one shot, Merlin knows he would not repeat himself. He was not going to be all happy go lucky about it either. He wasn't about to jump on the bandwagon and join their cause, he worked alone. Simple as that. He would go in tell them what they needed to know and that was it. If Dumbledore thought Harry was going to join up and follow him he had another thing coming.

-o0o-

Harry laid staring up at the ceiling, mindlessly tapping his fingers on the metal railing on the bed.

42.

That was the number of cracks that Harry had counted in the ceiling… twice.

With an aggravated sigh, he sat up, threw the cover back and swung his legs off the bed. Looking over he noticed that Ginny was still sound asleep, a small frown marring her petite face.

He stood up and stretched, rolling his shoulders. His ribs protested the movement, but Harry ignored it. He went straight to his clothes. He pulled on his jeans and all but tore off the irritating hospital gown. His black t-shirt was tore up pretty badly and the fact that his blood was dried up on the shirt and his jeans did not help.

He stared at his ruined shirt with a pout before realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

Magic.

He rolled his eyes at his own slow moving brain and pulled out his wand easily fixing his shirt and cleaning the blood in a manner of seconds.

A quick tempus charm told him it was three in the morning. No wonder he was wide-awake and bored out of his mind.

Patting his pockets to make sure that certain items were still in place, he mentally went over a list of things he knew for sure he had on him before the he was oh so graciously knocked into oblivion for over six hours.

Cell phone… check.

Lighter… check.

Cigarettes… that's a check. Thank god.

Small vial containing a debatable, gross looking potion that probably tastes horrible and somehow enables vampires to walk around in the middle of a bright sunny day… double check.

He paused and thought about what he should do with the mysterious potion. He pulled out the skinny vial and looked at the murky substance inside. It looked like a seemingly harmless potion, nothing noteworthy about it. Harry wouldn't have given it a second glance had he not known the importance of it. But he knew first hand that appearances can be deceiving. He really didn't know what to do with it. He didn't know any other potion experts besides Snape, and he couldn't hand it over to Toby. Toby didn't have any contacts within the magical community; Harry was his one and only contact. It was the same situation with Morgan too. Harry weighed the idea of giving to Dumbledore but the Headmaster had the nasty habit of withholding information when he thought it was best.

In reality his only option was to hand it over to one of his own more… questionable contacts. Not that he wanted to, he didn't trust any of them, they were easily scared and easily persuaded with the right amount of money. The less people that knew about the potion and whatever the hell ingredients were in it, the better.

Harry sighed, he needed a plan. God how he hated plans.

Running a hand over his face and ruffling his un-spiked hair, he made his way over to the window. He easily pulled it open and his face and hair was hit with a cool breeze. He took a deep breath savouring the fresh air, his nose was getting irritated from that nauseating clean hospital smell. He supposed it didn't help that his nose was more sensitive to smells than others.

Harry jumped up onto the window ledge and sat there. He leaned his back against the frame and let out a bored groan. He did not want to be stuck here all night. Going back to sleep was out of the question, using his phone was definitely out of the question, and he really didn't think Ginny would appreciate it if he woke her up just because he was bored so that was out of the question. He was officially out of ideas.

Harry closed his eyes and let the cool breeze wash over his face, ruffling his lifeless hair. He swung his leg back and forth absentmindedly.

He contemplated the idea of jumping off the window ledge and sneaking of to Hogsmeade. He knew the entrance to the wing was warded with alarms that would go off the second someone tried to get in or out. Besides if he jumped he could make some much needed use of his phone. He opened his eyes and looked down out the window. He raised his eyebrow with more or less childlike curiosity.

In reality the fall wasn't _that_ far. Maybe eight, ten meters at most, he mused while he clucked his tongue. Sure, Harry had never jumped off a building from no more then six meters up, who's to say that he couldn't make this one?

Cracking his stiff fingers, Harry weighed the pros and cons. He could stay up here like a good little boy and sit on his thumbs all night or he could jump. If he made it, all the better. If he didn't… well, that would be kind of embarrassing. He would end up right back in hospital wing with more broken bones.

Harry snorted as he imagined himself trying to explain that. 'Yeah, I jumped out the window. Why? Because it looked like fun.'

The old springs of a bed squeaked and Harry stopped short, leg freezing mid swing.

Harry slowly looked over, knowing that it was Ginny since there was no one else there. Poppy had long since retired to bed.

Ginny was leaning back on her elbows and frowned at the adjacent wall while she blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Harry stayed silent and chose to amuse himself by watching how long it took for Ginny to get her head straight. The bed creaked again as Ginny sat all the way up. He was waiting for the inevitable 'what happened?' and wasn't really looking forward to explaining the days events again.

"Thank you."

Harry blinked a couple of times and looked at the redhead, raising his eyebrow. She had said it so quietly and Harry, for a moment thought he had imagined it, he wasn't expecting her to say that. Ginny was staring at her hands in her lap, worry showing clearly on her face.

"s'cuse me?" he blurted.

"Thank you for… saving me," she stated again, this time looking up at Harry. Their eyes didn't meet, instead Ginny let her eyes land somewhere past his face.

Harry looked down at the floor, and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't like these kinds of situations; he didn't handle gratitude all that well. Too touchy-feely. So like all the other times, he easily brushed it aside like it was nothing. Which, to Harry, is was nothing; he saved people from vampires so many times, their 'thank you' speech's just wasn't that big of a deal anymore.

Harry frowned as he realised that Ginny wasn't about to ask what had happened and why she just woke up in the hospital wing. His slight confusion must have shown on his face because Ginny started speaking again.

"I know what happened," she said, smiling a little at the look on Harry's face. "I am aware of what goes on around me when I'm using my… um... My sight, I just couldn't turn it off," she whispered and Harry watched as she shivered and wrapped hers arms around herself.

Harry frowned. What did she see when she looked into a vampires eyes? It's not like they had souls or auras that she could read, there was nothing there that she would be able to see.

_Ohhhh…_

That was it. There was nothing, nothing at all.

They lapsed into silence. Harry thought about what that must feel like, having no control. He stopped himself from shuddering. No, he knew what it felt like to have no control over what was happening, he did not like that feeling one bit. He needed a plan and fast.

He started when Ginny began talking again.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" she asked quietly.

Harry her gave her a funny look. What a thing to say, he snorted.

"Why didn't you?" he shot back.

Ginny shrank back and wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees.

"Point taken," she mumbled looking at a spot on the floor. Harry nodded his head, more to himself then to her. He jumped off the window, his mind made up.

"Well," he started slowly as Ginny looked back up at him, noticing the grin that had formed on his face. "Since I already know you can keep a secret I'm not going to ask."

Ginny scrambled out of bed, looking at Harry with confusion.

"What?"

"Can you cover for me?" he asked not looking at her. He leaned a little out the window scanning the ground for anything sharp or pointy that might decide to impale him when he landed. He breathed deeply and backed up a few steps away from the window

"Your not going to _jump_ are you?!" Ginny whispered furiously, catching on to what he was about to do.

Harry nodded his head as he bounced on the spot, cracking his neck.

"Are you joking?!" she hissed, staring at him like he was buckets of crazy. "You'll die!"

"That is a possibility," Harry replied and without further ado leaped head first out the open window.

His breathe locked in his lungs as he, on instinct, flipped in the air.

It didn't take long before he hit the ground. Harry landed on bended knee, hunched over. The dew filled grass was less than a meter away from his face and Harry stared at it with wide eyes. The fingers on his right hand dug into the soft ground, while his left arm was outstretched behind him.

It took a second before his brain caught up, and when it did Harry let out the breath he was holding in a rush.

Nothing was broken, that was a good thing. A wide grin slowly spread across his features as he stood all the way up. His feet were tingly and numb and his left knee buckled slightly when he put pressure on it.

He gazed up to see that Ginny was hanging out the window one hand covering her mouth as she looked down at him. Harry's grin widened and he gave her a brief two finger salute and made his way along the side of the castle, limping slightly. He didn't care, that pain would be gone in just a little bit anyway.

-o0o-

The one thing he should have expected was the Aurors patrolling the town.

There were at least five of them walking around the dark streets. Harry had to keep low and slink his way through the back alleyways to keep them from noticing him.

Harry saw something from the corner of his eye. He stopped, crouching down and looked over at what had grabbed his attention. There it was again, a glint of steel he recognized in a heartbeat.

He scanned to street to make sure the coast was clear, he stood all the way up.

Resisting the urge to squeal like a schoolgirl, he lithely made his way over to his dagger. As he knelt down to pick it up he let a smile grace his lips. As he stood up he hugged the dagger close to his chest and breathed out, unable to lose the relieved smile on his face.

But he lost that smile the instant he heard muffled voices, his head snapped to the left, he could see the light shining across down the street, jumping around in a lazy fashion.

Turning quickly, Harry fell back into the comfort of the shadows as an Auror walked silently passed, wand lit, as he patrolled the streets of Hogsmeade.

He made his way in between two buildings once he was a safe distance away from the lights and fully engulfed in the darkness. Harry leaned back against the cold brick of whatever building he was up against.

He pulled out his phone, flinched away at the blinding blue glow the numbers emitted. Glaring, he punched in Mac's number and pressed send.

It rang, once, twice…

"_What?!"_

The voice was scratchy and gruff, like everyone's voice was when they were just woken up in the middle of the night. Or whatever time zone Mac was currently in.

"It's me," Harry whispered.

He heard the phone rustling on the other end, a bang and a grunt. Harry's lips twitched.

"_What the hell happened kid?! Where are you? Are you…" _the man on the other end started yelling, now fully awake.

"Shhh!" Harry cut him off; he was not about to get busted because of him.

There was a pause and Harry knew Mac was waiting for Harry to talk as he got over the initial shock.

"Listen, I don't have a lot of time to explain," Harry said, rolling his eyes again and threw up a hasty silencio. "This bitch is blown wide open on my end."

"_Care to explain how the hell that happened?_" Mac asked sighing heavily into the phone. Harry knew that Mac understood what Harry had said.

"It was the H3. They caught me off guard. Made some potion that gave them the ability to stand sunlight for a couple hours. Can't say they didn't take advantage of it," he snorted

Mac let out a breath. "_You sure it was the H3?"_

"Pretty damn sure Mac," he replied not intending it to come out so snappish. "Look, I still have to get in touch with Morgan and get back up to the school before someone realizes I'm gone."

"_Alright kid. Keep me posted,"_ Mac replied._ "Especially if you need any supplies. You still got your dagger or you manage to lose it again?" _

"Shut up. I've still got it."

"_Meaning you just now found it, right?"_

"Shut it."

"_Take care, kid."_

"You got it," Harry snapped his phone shut.

He sat for a moment pinching the bridge of his nose. He took a deep breath and opened his phone again, this time dialing Morgan's number.

"_Hey, this is Morgan, state your business and I'll get back to you."_

The telltale beep sounded and Harry could have banged his head on a wall. "Son of a…" This was just his luck, right when he needed to talk to her he couldn't get through. He briefly wondered how long this would keep up; neither of them could get each other on the phone at the same time.

"It me," he sighed into the voicemail. "I'm meeting with the birds tomorrow, and in case you're wondering, yes they figured it out, you'd have to be incredibly dense not to after what happened today. But, look, I need you to be at that meeting tomorrow night… we gotta talk…" he trailed off, pulling the phone away from his ear and pressing the end button. He stared at the screen for a second before closing his phone and tucking it back in his pocket.

He hoped she was going to get that message in time. This had to be the one and only time he would ever admit it to himself, but he needed her help.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't do this alone.

Now if only he could get a beer somewhere...

-o0o-

Hope this was an alright chapter!

As always; Please Review!

Peace \//


	13. A Need to Know Situation

Undead Secrets

Disclaimer:...Oh that right, so I wont get sued...

A/N: Hey all. Sorry for the long wait! No excuse... But I say blame it on all the wicked stories on this site. ;)

Thanks again to my Beta _Steve2, _honestly I would be lost without him. :) And thank you to everybody that reviewed! Whoop! That makes me happy. :D Hope you all like the chapter.

**Chapter 13: A Need to Know Situation**

"We should have done something," said a seriously soused voice.

"I know, Sirius," replied another voice, one still reeling a cascade of emotions like the first one.

Remus had tried his hardest to console his friend for the past few hours but it was exceedingly hard when he, himself, was feeling the exact same way. They sat in the empty kitchen in Number 12 Grimmauld Place, a half empty bottle of fire whisky between them.

It was the first time in a long time he had ever felt so utterly disappointed in himself. He had no excuses, no reasoning to justify what he had done; what both he _and_ Sirius had done.

"If we just... if we took the time to..." Sirius cut himself off grabbing the bottle from the table and taking another sorrowful drink. He slammed the bottle down on the wood of the table and slid it across to Remus.

Remus took the bottle gratefully and took an equally long drink; savouring the burning sensation the liquor created as it slid down his throat. Anything to get past the pain he felt. The massive failure he felt in himself. It just wouldn't go away, he knew it wouldn't, this disappointment, this_ pain_ in himself would stay with him. Not even a bottle of the strongest alcohol would make it more bearable.

He hunched over the table, mirroring the same image of Sirius.

"I didn't want to believe it," he started staring at the bottle in his hand. "I think, I think I always knew, deep down inside. Even back when he was only thirteen. I just didn't want to, I didn't, I shouldn't have... I should have taken the time to take a second look at him. But I just didn't want to see that _look_ in his eyes again..." he lamented.

Silence filled the air.

"What do you mean, 'that look in his eyes again'?" Sirius eventually asked, the synapses of his brain finally registering the last comment.

Remus thought for a minute. "Did I ever tell you why I never told Harry about myself when I was teaching him?"

"You said you had been brought in to teach by Albus and to keep an eye on Neville that year. To protect him from me as I recall," Sirius said dryly.

"True. And believe me I did watch over Neville more than any other student that year as he was prone to more, ah, accidents than the norm. But there were still times when I could have approached Harry. When he was studying alone at a table in the library or alone in the Great Hall. I could have said something but... sigh ... I was too afraid."

Sirius looked at his friend in a new light. After a moment he said, "Afraid of what?"

"That look."

"What look?"

"Harry's very reserved. We've both seen that. He doesn't talk much or let much faze him in class. Even when you demonstrated that healing charm to snap a bone back into place and fuse it after spell damage during a duel last week; most students were a little green to say the very least. Harry; nope, didn't faze him at all. But there was one time when he was 13 that his cool fell and I saw... that look."

"What look already?"

Remus continued as if he didn't hear his friend. "It was during our boggart practicals that I saw it. Everyone was to have a go at seeing what their greatest fear was and then try to banish it with a strong Riddickulus. I'd motioned Neville to go last, not sure what his form would take but it would give me time to counter it if need be.

"The students came up and the boggart did its job. One by one they came up, most were able to overcome their fear and cast the counter to get rid of it. A few were immobilized and I did the counter. Harry was just in front of Neville. It was his turn to go up when all of a sudden I had to stop an... altercation between Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Weasley. Most of the class turned towards the fracas and I almost missed Harry's boggart. It was an adult male with a crow on his shoulder. I didn't think much of it at first but then he smiled and I saw the teeth. It was a vampire. Makes sense now don't you think.

"I thought the worst I'd see would be something normal like Ron's fear of spiders, or a fear of heights, or even the boogey-man..." he trailed off for a minute thinking back.

"Heh-heh, good old Harvey," Sirius chuckled.

"What?" Remus stopped.

"Harvey. My boogey-man. We had some good times together when I was growing up. When I was eight, we spent two months scaring my sisters, jumping out of their closets, grabbing their ankles from under the bed. That was a great summer."

"Bartholomew. I'd forgotten. My boogey-man. Great guy. We did some studying together for a few weeks. Didn't stick around past my first transformation. I think the wolf killed him. At least, he was never around after that. Anyway, Harry stood there, unable to counter. He had this absolute shocked and horrified look on his face. I was about to go counter when Neville, who had been watching his friend and Mr. Malfoy have a few words, accidentally take a few steps backwards and turn around. By doing so he was now in the direct line of sight of the boggart which immediately assumed a new shape."

"As a dementor I take it?"

"You got it. I was busy the rest of the period taking care of the students who'd felt the effects of a dementor up close and personal. Except..."

"Except what?"

"Now that I think of it, I didn't have to help Harry. Which I was grateful at the time. I mean the last thing I wanted was to go up to him and had him to chocolate and say, 'Sorry about that dark creature, Harry, oh and I saw that your boggart was a vampire, but I just wanted to tell you that not all dark creatures are evil. Oh, and the man the dementors are stationed around the school are all trying to capture is none other than Sirius Black. We're old friends, well, not anymore since he's a murderer on the loose. He and I both knew your parents. Did I mention he's your godfather? Oh, and I'm a werewolf by the way.' He'd have thought I was mad or worse. Then he'd have given me the look he had for that vampire."

Despite himself, Remus felt those warm tears spring up into his eyes. He took another long drink from the whiskey, silently cursing his lycanthropy as steam shot out his ears. Why? He lied to himself, lied to himself for seventeen long years. The truth always came out eventually and when it did, it was enough to brutally tear down that imaginary life he had created in his mind's eye for the son of Lily and James Potter.

"Remus, he wouldn't have thought that," Sirius started.

"Yes he would have. I thought out it many more times during the rest of the year. I saw him studying and I thought about introducing myself, but I just couldn't bear to see that look of horror he'd have on his face to see a friend of his parents was a werewolf, a creature of the dark, a killer. But worse, think about what would have happened _had_ we struck up a friendship. His scent was off. He masked it by hiding among other students, but he still held a vampire scent. Think about what would have happened the closer a full moon came; how long do you think I would have lasted before I attacked him on instinct? 'Harry, I know I said I was a friend of your parents and all, but since you smell like a vampire, I'm going to have to kill you now. Try not to take it too personally, it's a werewolf thing.' Yes, that meeting would have gone well I'm sure," Remus said sarcastically.

"Sirius, I've met a few vampires over the years, weeks after a full moon and I'd still been hard pressed not to simply start ripping into them. Now think about having the wolf in me think that a vampire was nearby. What do you think would have happened, wolfsbane or not?"

Sirius did think. And he didn't like the conclusion he came to. His friend was right. It was probably better in the long run that he hadn't befriended Harry at 13 unlike knowing him now.

Sirius' case, however, was an entirely different story.

"You know, I keep thinking that maybe... maybe if I had gone to him when I first got out, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad," Sirius croaked, almost to the point where he started choking on his words. "I just thought that he had a family, a life full of happy memories and I never thought, never in a million years that... that he was...that he had..." he stopped himself and grabbed the fire whiskey back.

It was a pain so raw and deep reaching that it was impossible to put down in words. They both felt the same way and as much as they wanted to, they just couldn't get the guts to say it out loud. Because if even one of them did it would make it that much more of a horrible reality. A crushing reality.

But the words eventually broke free.

Slamming the bottle down, he ground out, "I never knew that being on the run from aurors and dementors would be a better life for my godson than what he'd been going through."

Sirius didn't want to think about what Harry went through, didn't want to think about the horrors he had to live through.

"We should have known."

"There was no way we could have known, Padfoot, he made sure of that." Remus sighed. "I was the one that should have seen it. My god, I taught him for a whole year!" he clenched his fist and bit into his knuckle, fighting back the angry tears. "I didn't want to believe... I wanted to believe that he was a happy kid as well, you know?"

Sirius did know. It was the exact same belief he held in regards to Harry. He always thought Harry would have a nice home even without Lily and James. He would imagine Harry as a small boy ecstatic at his first show of accidental magic. But Harry was no boy, nor child. Harry was caught up in the middle of an underground war that had been raging for far longer than Harry's short seventeen years. Watching his godson fight, listening to Poppy, the rumours surrounding the mysterious Dayshadow was enough for him to squash that imaginary life he had created.

That picture perfect image he had wanted so_ bad_ to believe in. It just wasn't reality.

"What do you think he's going to do now? Merlin he probably doesn't even want to talk to us anymore."

Remus gave Sirius a startled look. "Is that what you think?" he asked softly. A small bubble of hysteria burst in his chest and he let out a small chuckle.

Sirius looked at his friend, a look that yelled 'what are you laughing at?!'

"Padfoot," he started, wiping the small crystal tear out of the far corner of his eye, "you are forgetting the he came to_ you_. Harry isn't just finding out that he is this Dayshadow, it's us that are finding this out," he said looking into Sirius' confused frown. "He came to you knowing who he is, what he is. Padfoot, he came to you knowing who_ you_ are... I think it's entirely up to you what you want to do with that information," he said it with such irony. The roles had been switched.

Sirius' eyes widened a fraction. Then he realized the truth in Remus' words. He was right, when was he never wrong? Sirius couldn't help it, he laughed. Laughter that threatened to turn into desperate tears. As screwed up as it was, Sirius understood. Harry had come to him wanting to get to know him, despite his reputation with the wizarding world. Now this is what Sirius does when he finds out that his godson is... unique? He turns his back and cries about it? I don't' think so. Merlin, Harry was probably more worried about what he, Sirius, thought about him now that he knew the truth.

"I think its time to return the favour, Padfoot my old friend," Remus stated.

-o0o-

Harry tapped his foot on the hard floor and clucked his tongue creating a grating tune as he waited for the nurse to give the okay to leave the hospital wing.

It was almost lunch time and Madame Pomfrey had taken all morning to check Harry over. By now Harry was getting highly annoyed. Since when did it take this long just for a check up?

Ginny could tell today was not going to be a happy day, if the atmosphere outside was anything to go by. It was cloudy and rainy with a harsh wind that chilled everyone to bone just looking out at the horrid weather.

Despite that though, Ginny was looking at Harry with amusement. Madame Pomfrey stated that she would be staying one more night, just to be sure. She wanted to make sure Ginny was alright; yesterday had put a lot of strain on her magical abilities. She didn't mind though, she would rather stay one more night in the hospital wing then face the student body. By now, she figured it was all anyone was talking about and she was a little bit scared about what was going to happen.

The attack would be all over the Monday papers and Harry was most likely going to be on the front page.

Last night when she woke up, she had thanked Harry. He saved her life and Neville's life and no doubt the whole town of Hogsmeade owed him their lives. She could understand his aura now. It held the same darkness that she seen and _felt _with that Vampire. Harry was part vampire, she knew that now, she just didn't know how or why. But she felt it was rude to ask, especially after he saved her life. Plus he never gave her the third degree about her sight; for that she was grateful and would respect his privacy.

Right now though, she was trying in vain to hold in her laughter. He looked so irritated by the school nurse as she waved her wand over his body

Harry saw Ginny, who was sitting behind the nurse, holding in her laughter at his annoyed face. Harry gave her a half hearted glare but it just served to fuel her laughter more. The school nurse was either completely oblivious or chose to ignore her two patients.

She waved her wand over Harry _again_ and checked the clipboard she was holding. She was about to do it again when Harry finally had enough. He jumped up off to bed.

"Look, you've checked, rechecked, and checked again. I don't think you're going to find anything wrong with me," he said, reaching under the bed and grabbing his boots.

"You have an odd definition of wrong, Mr. Potter," the Nurse replied, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"There's nothing wrong with me!" he said back exasperated.

Ginny couldn't help it, she let a giggle escape her lips but stopped in the middle when Harry swung around and glared at her. The kind of glare that screamed 'You're gonna pay for that'. Her eyes went wide and immediately wiped all previous traces of amusement off her face. That look was enough to shut anyone up. It was downright scary. But she could tell it wasn't malicious in intent; she had seen that same look from her brothers over the years. It was a precursor to a retaliatory strike.

"Yes, well be that as it may I would still like to take a sample of your blood for..."

"No."

"Excuse me?" the nurse asked. Ginny wasn't laughing anymore – instead she worried the end of her lip. Harry had the ability to change emotions so fast it was hard to tell he was just simply irritated a few seconds ago. But now… now he looked mad.

"I'm sorry Madam Pomfrey," he started, not sounding the least bit sorry. "But no one is getting my blood, even if it is a small sample."

He bent down and put his scuffed boots on his feet.

"Mr. Potter I don't think you understand. I need to know what it is..."

"No you don't," he said again with false cheerfulness as he stood up and crossed his arms around his chest with a dark expression fitted across his features. "You don't _need_ to know, you _want_ to know. There's a difference."

The nurse opened her mouth, no doubt to try and convince him to give her a sample but was cut off when the doors opened.

Neville walked in the wing looking a little nervous.

"Uh... Hey," he said looking at the three pairs of eyes that were now trained on him.

Madam Pomfrey looked at Neville and back at the defiant form of Harry Potter before she huffed and walked back to her office. "Go," she stated simply, not looking back. Neville watched perplexed as the nurse walked past him.

"Was it something I said?" he asked lightly when the office door shut.

Ginny giggled again forcing Neville to grin widely.

He walked forward and gave Harry a small unreadable look before he turned his attention towards herself.

"Hey Ginny," he said stopping at the end of the bed she was currently residing in. "How're you... Uh... how're you feeling?"

"Fine, thanks," she smiled at him. She knew he had questions but she was half hoping he would just pretend like nothing happened.

She had a feeling that wasn't about to happen.

Glancing over at Harry she noticed he was watching the scene unfold with a vindictive smirk on his face. She felt her eyes widen when he opened his mouth no doubt to say something incriminating about her.

"Hey, Harry, don't you think you should be leaving before Madam Pomfrey comes back and decides to keep you here?" she asked in a rush, saying the first thing that came to mind.

Harry's mouth shut with a click as he glared at the little red head. Ginny didn't know why she did it but she sent a triumphant smirk his way.

"Oh!" Neville said breaking the small silence, completely unaware of the small scale battle going on. "Here, Harry," he pulled out a grey sweater from his bag and tossed it at Harry.

Harry caught the fabric and stared at the sweater for a moment before looking back at Neville, who had a wide grin on his face. "Thanks," he said a little guardedly.

"No problem," he chirped back. He was about to say something else when the doors opened yet again and a cluster of redheads all made their way inside.

Ginny could have groaned. Her family – her family was here.

"Oh, yeah. Ginny I was supposed to let you know your family was on the way up," he said sheepishly.

Ginny jumped off the bed just as her mum reached her.

"Oh, Ginny! Don't you dare scare us all like that again!" she yelled grabbing the smaller girl in a fierce hug.

From over her mother's shoulder she saw her father standing beside the twins with Ron and Hermione standing quietly beside Neville. She noticed that all of them were shooting Harry glances.

"Mum, I'm fine," she whispered as she let her go.

"Imagine how we felt, getting a call saying that you were in the hospital right after the attack!" her mother said but Ginny wasn't listening; she just noticed that Harry was about to make his way out of the Hospital wing.

Molly Weasley looked over her shoulder to see what had caught her daughter's attention.

"Oh, Mr. Potter," she gasped catching sight of him.

Harry stopped and looked at her frowning.

Molly bustled over to him wrapping him up in a hug. Harry for all intents and purposes looked completely taken aback. No surprise there, pretty much everyone in the room looked taken aback. Ginny herself was surprised, Harry just didn't look all that huggable and by the way he was standing there he wasn't one that liked being hugged. Trust her mother to be the one to go into mother hen mode on him.

"I owe you my thanks young man," her mother stated, releasing him from her hug and looking up at him. Harry stood about a foot taller then her.

He opened his mouth to say something but Molly cut him off.

"Neville told us what happened," she stated bringing a hand up and grasping his shoulder. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Harry glanced over at Neville who just shrugged looking faintly apologetic by the whole scene and then glanced over at Ginny as if to say 'Is this for real?'

Ginny rolled her eyes at her mother in response.

"Right," Harry drawled nodding his head slowly. "Well I was just leaving," he said jabbing a thumb over his shoulder towards the exit.

"Yes of course dear," Molly said smiling brightly at him. "And thank you for saving my daughter," she flustered as he already starting walking away.

"I'll go with you," Neville said hastily walking with Harry.

Ginny watched the scene play out but suddenly remembered something.

"Hey wait!" she yelled turning and grabbing something off the night table.

Neville had to grab Harry's arm to get him to pause for Ginny. They stopped right by the doors and watched the red head scramble towards them.

"Here, these are yours," she stated while she thrust out her arm with Harry's sunglasses sitting in the palm of her hand.

Harry tilted his head to the side looking suddenly curious. Ginny suddenly felt this was a bad idea.

"Did they help any?" he asked smirking at her when her eyes got bigger. Payback was a bitch. "For you know... your sight?" he tapped the side of his temple. Though he said it in a kind way, his green eyes were still shining with vindictive pleasure.

She flushed and refused to look back at him. Neville stood with a curious expression on his face. He was right when he guessed that Harry knew what was going on with her. Ginny glanced over her shoulder to see her family watching with confused expressions and then back at Harry resigning to her fate.

"They did actually," she conceded forcing a smile on her face that came out as more of a grimace. "Sort of dulled everything a bit, made it easier to... handle it I guess."

Harry nodded his head, though he didn't really understand exactly what she meant, he knew they helped and that was all he needed to know.

"Keep 'em," he said nodded down at the black shades in her hand. "I've got another pair back in my room."

She looked down at the shades, closing her fingers around them.

"Tha..." she stopped herself when she noticed Harry was already on his way out the door. She frowned and looked at Neville but all he did was shrug his shoulders and take off after him. She blinked her eyes and sighed turning back around to her family.

This was going to be a long afternoon.

-o0o-

First Impressions.

First Impressions can tell somebody a lot about another person. Be it wrong or right, there is always some kind of feeling one can get from a first glance. It can have a lasting effect or opinion of somebody. Or it can completely pass them by without a second thought. View young man with gray hoody equals unimpressive, so ignore. Continue to next: my, that girl over there certainly looks attractive.

That's what had happened to Harry most of his life. People saw what they wanted to see and it wasn't him they wanted to see. At all. But now people were starting to wake up and see him.

Neville's first impression of Harry was not entirely wrong but it wasn't entirely accurate either.

He thought, when he had first met the other boy on the train, that Harry was shy, smart and maybe even a little abused. See? Not entirely wrong but Harry was far from that seemingly shy kid he had first met, he just chose not to talk all that much. Neville had figured he must have come from an abusive home just by watching his mannerisms, the way he acted around others. He wasn't entirely accurate in that department. Harry didn't come from an abusive _home_ he came from an abusive _world_.

By Neville's first impression he would have never guessed that Harry was, well, what he was.

Where most people would say killer, Neville said survivor.

He came from a world full of darkness, a world where you would have to be willing to do anything just to survive. Why Harry didn't tell anyone, not even Dumbledore was beyond him. If anybody could help it was Professor Dumbledore. He supposed that Harry wasn't the most trustful person, he couldn't blame him. Neville didn't even want to think what he would be like if he had to go through what Harry went through.

He was his friend, even if it was a tentative friendship, he was still his friend. So Neville followed Harry as he walked with purpose down the deserted halls of Hogwarts. Harry didn't say anything about Neville following him, didn't voice any objections, Neville took that as a good sign.

Still though, Neville couldn't help but keep glancing sideways at him. It was weird, a minute ago he could care less about what Harry was but now that they were alone he couldn't for the life of himself think of anything to say.

Neville took another sideways glance at Harry.

He didn't look angry or annoyed, his face was void of emotion – but his eyes, his green eyes glinted with a determined purpose. The brown haired boy wondered was Harry was thinking.

Harry paused and ruffled the sweater in his hands before he pulled the sleeves on and threw the grey hoody over his head, effectively hiding his weapons. He played with the ends and straightened it out before glancing at Neville.

Neville always prided himself in his confidence. He cared more about other then he did himself and he never let his self confidence turn into that ugly thing called arrogance but when Harry looked at him he felt that confidence slip as he stared right back at Harry.

They stood there and stared at each other in silence. It took the all of Neville's pure stubbornness to return that stare. He didn't know how long they stood like that. Neville knew Harry was sizing him up, his green eyes were closed off and calculating and Neville really didn't know what Harry would do next.

He was a bit surprised when all Harry did was sigh and look away.

"So how many people know?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"What?" Neville blinked his wide eyes. The question caught him off guard.

"Something tells me you knew about me even before all the crap that happened yesterday," he stated.

Neville looked down at his feet. Some friend he was, a bubble of shame started forming in the pit of his stomach. There was something slightly accusatory in Harry's voice and he couldn't really blame him for it.

"Yes," Neville conceded looking back up at Harry but Harry wasn't looking at him, he was looking out a window at the dreary sky. "We knew. I mean it was all speculation but after yesterday... you kind of confirmed it," he tried to say it lightly. Laugh it off, he told himself, that always works. Not this time. Neville was too scared by what Harry was going to do.

Instead of boiling with rage and yelling like Neville figured anyone would in a situation like this Harry turned his head and looked at Neville with that thrice damned raised eyebrow. It was that look that always made Neville feel like he had said something incredibly stupid. That's exactly how he was starting to feel. Harry was… Harry was dangerous when he wanted to be. He was an unknown element and extremely unpredictable. Neville found himself holding his breath.

Harry cracked a smirk and shook his head looking away. He started walking down the hall again and Neville let his breathe out in a rush. What on earth was the matter with him? Harry wasn't going to attack him he wouldn't do that. He wasn't just some common vampire; he was just Harry. Neville shook his head, mad at himself for letting his imagination get away with him.

That's when he noticed Harry was already halfway down the hallway.

"Hey? Where are you going?" he yelled, taking off to catch up with Harry.

"Library," Harry shot over his shoulder not even stopping to let Neville catch up.

The library? What did Harry want to go the library for? He ran to catch up as Harry turned a corner.

-o0o-

Madam Pince looked up when she heard someone enter her library. She was just in time to see the blur of a student rush past her heading directly towards the back of the library.

She blinked her eyes and shook her head. Pursing her lips she looked back down at the book she was reading. She was halfway through putting her glassed back on when another student rushed past her following the trail of the previous student.

She blinked her eyes again and put her glasses on all the way.

"Kids these days, always in a hurry," she mumbled going back to her reading, forgetting the moment had ever occurred a second later.

-o0o-

Harry knew Neville was following him. He didn't know why he told him he was going to the library, he had seen that spark of fear in Neville's eyes.

Fear that was directed towards himself.

Why? Why did he care? He shouldn't really, he never cared before.

Yet he did. Weren't they friends? Weren't friends supposed to be, he didn't know, supportive? No, he didn't need that; he was fine on his own. He thought stubbornly.

Harry didn't bother to look up when he swooped past the school librarian or pause for Neville.

Friends were pointless, he decided.

No he didn't believe that. He had Morgan. They were friends. Well not so much, they didn't share their deep dark thoughts with each other. They didn't talk about their past's. To be honest they never really talked at all. Sure they would tease each other and fight together but were they actually friends?

What were friends anyway?

He shot past a couple of younger Hogwarts students studying as he headed straight to the very back of the library where all the historical books were kept. It was a great deal more dusty and musty in the back and the poor lighting suited Harry just fine. His nose tickled slightly at the dust in the air, Harry found himself reaching up and rubbing his nose and sniffling despite himself.

He just turned down an aisle when Neville caught up with him.

Harry decided to ignore him. He was on a mission. So he strode past the rows upon rows of old books, his eyes flickering past title after title.

"Harry, what are you doing?" he heard Neville ask and found himself making a small 'hmm' noise in response.

Something caught his eye so he came to a stop and leaned back rereading the title of a large brown book.

_Prominent Pureblood Family History_

He grabbed the book and slipped it off the shelf. Deciding the empty aisle was as good as any other place, he promptly sat cross legged on the floor and propped the book in his lap. He ran his fingers over the cracked brown leather cover and slowly opened it up.

He scanned the table of contents looking for a specific name. He passed over several unheard names and family lines but it wasn't what he was looking for.

Then one name caught his interest.

_The DeMarco Line - Page 178_

He quickly flipped to the page but to his disappointment in was only a couple short paragraphs that left more questions than answers.

_The DeMarco family of the late 1400's._

_Baron Cyning DeMarco (1423 – 1502) squandered much of his family fortune before marrying Baroness Juliette Martinett (1427 – 1478) in 1448 to obtain her inheritance and the title of Baron of Arras. Eitenne DeMarco (1459 – 1487) was born to a title but not much else as Cyning gambled much of his wife's estate away._

_Son Eitenne attended Hogwarts, his father's school, and disappeared several years after graduation. Correspondence with his father indicated he was en route to Italy when he was killed. A family funeral marker indicated his passing and with it the end of the DeMarco line._

_In an odd twist of fate, had Eitenne survived his travels, in 1496 he would have assumed the title of Wizard King due to the work of Dark Lord Karnac. For more than a decade, this dark lord set his servant, Mad Cornelius Pennsington, to poisoning all those of the English nobility. The decade long time-release poison took the lives of over 250 wizards and witches in less than a month. After this dark lord's defeat and admittance to what he had done (why he did it was never revealed), a search for an heir to the noble line was begun. The line of Martinett was deemed to have sufficient pure blood by birth to assume the role of stewardship until a proper crowning could be done. However, by then Eitenne DeMarco had died and the line of Martinett ended without an heir._

_With no other pure blooded candidates by birth to assume the role, the crown was dismantled and the Wizengamot came into being._

_For more information on the old Wizard Monarchy consult __Wizards and Politics Edition 1 by: Melinda Frair_

Harry snapped the book shut and tossed it aside.

He frowned, he really didn't need to know one of the members of the H3 was, was... royalty!? He bit into his thumb nail, no need to get so worked up over this. Etienne DeMarco was a vampire nothing more. He snorted, this was ridiculous. He was getting nowhere.

"Hey Harry... do you, do you need help finding anything?"

Harry started and glanced up. He forgot Neville was still with him.

"No thanks Neville," he said looking up at him as he stood awkwardly beside a row of dusty books.

Harry was about to tell him that he didn't have to stay with him but stopped when he noticed a book right beside Neville's head. He jumped up and snatched the book. Too immersed in the title, Harry didn't notice that Neville had jumped, tensing as Harry came towards him.

Neville grabbed his heart and let out a breath when he noticed all Harry was doing was getting a book.

The book was huge and had to have been over a thousand pages. Harry sat back down and ran his fingers over the title.

_The Potter Line_

Harry pursed his lips and opened the book carefully. The book cracked and crinkled as he did.

He read the intro with rapt attention, drinking in every word.

_The Potter family is probably one of the most debatable pureblood lines. Dating back to the early 1300's, it is one of the few pure-blooded families that as been documented for so long. Along with them are the more prominent Families like the Malfoy's, Longbottom's and the Black's._

_The Potters, while considered a powerful family, are not considered politically powerful. With the exception of Malloy Francis Potter. (1846- 1926) He was the first and only Potter to have a permanent seat on the Wizengamot to which he held for over forty years. _

What really grabbed Harry's attention was the last paragraph in the book.

_Harry Potter (1980 - ). Attacked by a vampire, he survived and continues his education at Hogwarts. _

"What the hell…" he started, looking up at Neville.

Neville, to his credit, didn't flinch away that time and instead looked over the book to the page where Harry's information was listed.

"It's a Wizarding Family Account," he said simply.

Harry's gaze indicated he didn't know what that really meant and to go on. He really wasn't much to talk when his look could pressure others into just talking.

"A Wizarding Family Account is a spell woven into books by a publisher usually employed by a head of family to keep tabs on his family and his descendants. It was really popular centuries ago when blood meant everything. The books are self-updating."

"Huh," Harry admitted.

Harry flipped through the book some more. There was nothing that really stuck out to him. The book stated all the obvious things about his family. They were rich, practically drowning in old money, the potter men always had upstanding careers and jobs. The majority of those being Aruors and Healers.

One thing that did seem odd to him though. It was that the book only ever talked about the Potter men, there was no mention of woman besides the small sentence about the wives. That struck him as odd, all the offspring were always boys. There was no mention of a couple ever having a little girl. But then again this book didn't state anything about the Potter's of the late 1400's. It all started at the late 1500's.

He needed to find a family tree.

-o0o-

With Harry's luck, or lack there of, he didn't find a family tree or anything he considered useful.

He had various papers, books and parchment scattered all around him in a wide circle. He was glad the librarian hadn't come back here yet, she would probably throw a fit at the mess he made.

Besides the small tidbit he had found on Etienne DeMarco he found nothing, absolutely _nothing_ about Edmund Crowfield or Katherine Potter.

It had gotten to the point where he even asked if Neville could try and look for anything remotely related to the surname Crowfield or DeMarco. He had wisely decided to leave out the name Potter.

He was so immersed in his research that he didn't notice the questioning glances Neville kept throwing at him or the fact the he noticed all the books around him that showed clearly he was looking up the Potter history.

Neville, it seemed, wasn't having any luck either, though he was reading at a much slower pace than Harry.

"Why are you looking for this stuff anyway?" he finally asked, curiosity bursting.

Harry glanced up at him and Neville was a little taken aback by the seriousness in his face.

"Not here," Harry whispered back before going back to his research.

Neville sighed. He should have known he was going to get some cryptic answer from that question. He stared back down at the book in his hands. He wasn't being a big help but it seemed like Harry really didn't want it anyway.

Neville shifted from his spot on the floor and realizing how hungry he was glanced at his watch. He stared at it for a moment and blinked. They had been sitting in the library for over three hours. It didn't seem like that long.

Dinner should be just beginning. He was about to ask Harry if he wanted to go down and get something to eat but he beat him to it.

"You can go, I'm not hungry," he stated not looking up from his book.

It took a second for Neville to comprehend what he had said. All this reading had really slowed him down.

"You're not hungry?" he asked. That was a little hard to believe. He knew Harry didn't eat lunch and he was entirely sure about the breakfast department either. "Are you sure? I mean you didn't..."

"Yup," he interrupted smacking his lips in a bored fashion.

"Well if you want I can go down and grab something for you..." He should really eat something. Wait, why was he taking a parent-like approach to his friend?

"No thanks, Neville," Harry sighed.

Neville was about to say something else when his own stomach growled and gurgled. He put a hand on his stomach and blinked. Yes, he was really hungry. He looked back at Harry just in time to catch the amused look he shot him.

"Well... If you're sure," Neville gave in and jumped to feet and cringed as his knees cracked and his muscles groaned.

Harry uh-hmm'ed and went back to his book.

Neville stood still trying to decide if he should forcible drag Harry down to the great hall to eat something.

"Go. I'm not hungry anyway," Harry cast a brief glance up at Neville before going back to the book.

Neville sighed and gave up on it. He figured Harry wasn't going to listen anyway so he turned and made his way out of the Library.

-o0o-

The Great Hall was full of students all chattering and arguing. Suffice to say that the noise level was at an all time high.

When Neville walked in the noise had died down a considerable amount and he was at the receiving end of most of the stares. He stopped and stared back eyes widening slightly. Glancing over he spotted Ron and Hermione sitting away from most of the other Gryffindor students.

Neville hunched up his shoulders and made his way over to them, avoiding the stares and whispers. That was one thing that he would never get used too.

He sat down and smiled at his friends. It seemed that once he did the volume hit max again.

"Where's Harry?" Hermione whispered leaning in close.

"He's still up in the library," Neville responded frowned up at the head table. Most, if not all the teachers looked a little haggard. They had long since given up trying to calm the student body.

"The library?" Ron asked and Neville turned back to look at his friend.

"It's probably better this way," Hermione cut in. "The school's in an uproar. It's all anybody is talking about."

It was then that Neville noticed the stares and questioning glances the three of them were getting. Their peers had given them wide berth and looked like they were too afraid to approach them with questions. Neville for once was at least happy about that. Everyone around them had started noticing the quiet boy that was hanging out with them and the rumours had escalated and turned into ridiculous stories about who Harry really was.

"He's supposed to be meeting with Professor Dumbledore after dinner," Neville said in a low voice glaring at anybody who was openly staring at them.

Ron nodded his head, full out scowling at the people around him.

"Do you think he's going to bring Harry to... you know?" Hermione asked. She looked really worried, Neville noticed. He felt the same way; he should have known this was why Harry was hiding out in the library.

"I don't know," he replied. "I'm thinking maybe."

Ron opened his mouth to say something but was cut off when the hall doors opened.

In walked none other then the Minister for Magic himself, Rufus Scrimgeour.

The Great Hall grew silent except for the occasional whispers and the sound of shuffled feet.

Neville, Ron, and Hermione openly glared at the Minister. Sure he was a hell of a lot better the Fudge ever was but he was also a whole hell of a lot more hot headed.

While Fudge had done his hardest to hide the fact the Voldemort was back, Scrimgeour was doing his hardest to boost moral and looked for anything to tell the people that they were winning the war. Which included trying to contact Neville on numerous occasions to get him to do special appearances and whatnot.

Whatever. In Neville's opinion the minister only wanted to use him as a poster boy and nothing more.

"Ah, Minister, to what do I owe this rather unexpected visit?" Dumbledore stood up from his spot and was now making his way towards the Minister. Though his voice was soft there was a certain edge to it that made it clear he wasn't entirely happy about it.

"Dumbledore," he said gruffly. "Perhaps it would be better if we took this up to your office?"

"Of course. Not a problem," Dumbledore replied before sweeping past him and out the doors, Scrimgeour not far behind.

There was a long silence after they had left but Neville cringed when the sound came back on.

"Come on guys," he said licking his lips. "It's too loud in here; let's go back to the common room."

Hermione nodded her head worrying her bottom lip while Ron looked longingly at the food on the table before nodding his head and standing up.

The three made it to the end of the hall before wonder of wonders they were confronted by none other than Draco Malfoy.

Neville stopped and glowered at the blonde idiot. His scowl only increased when Malfoy smirked knowingly at them.

"You see that, Longbottom? You'll be lucky if Potter is locked up with the key thrown away," he laughed coldly at the horrified look on Hermione's face.

"Oh piss of Malfoy," Ron snarled and made to go around the other boy but was blocked.

"Where's Potter, Longbottom?" he taunted. "Too ashamed to show his half-breed face?"

"That's none of your bloody business Malfoy," Hermione snapped grabbing both Neville and Ron's forearms and marched out the doors.

Malfoy jumped and sneered when Hermione brushed past him.

"You better watch your back Granger."

-o0o-

Okay so maybe he was hiding out.

Maybe he didn't want to walk into that Great Hall and have everybody stare at him.

Maybe he didn't want to go talk with Dumbledore.

Maybe he didn't want to explain just how much of a freak he really was.

And maybe, just maybe he was in fact a little hungry.

Harry sighed as he put the last book back in place. It wasn't exactly where it was supposed to go, well none of the books he looked through were back in there rightful place but he figured the librarian wouldn't notice for a while (like a few months or a few years considering how much dust was on most of the books he'd read). Harry swore under his breathe, he had to have looked through pretty much all these history books and nothing, absolutely nothing was found on any of the members of the H3. But really, he supposed, if he had five hundred years to erase his existence of the face of the planet, he'd do a pretty damn good job of it.

Besides, this was Hogwarts, the only books here were the only books that were needed for the learning curriculum.

Harry slowly cracked each one of his fingers as he made his way out of the library. Dinner was over, or almost over and the halls were most likely crawling with students and teachers alike.

He stepped out of the library and sure enough there were students about. Lots of students.

Lots of students who were all of the sudden staring directly at Harry.

Harry froze, his eyes flickering along the small crowd in the hallway. He cleared his throat and averted his eyes to the ground. He started walking away.

He could handle this. No problem.

Harry could hear whispering as he walked briskly past the other students. Oh who was he kidding; he may be able to kick anybody's ass like there was no tomorrow but the stares… the stares were a different matter entirely.

Grinding his teeth, he forced himself to lift his head up and block out everybody.

"Do you think it's true?"

"Yeah, I heard he was vampire."

"I bet you he's a follower of you know who."

Harry growled in the back of his throat and threw a glare at the two girls that were whispering very loudly. The one girl squeaked and the other dropped her books as they stared at him with wide eyes.

He gave them a dark look before he rounded a corner into a thankfully empty hallway. Harry paused and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He shook himself and continued on his way. It didn't take long before he was standing in front of the entrance to the headmaster's office.

Harry stood and stared blankly at the stone gargoyle.

What was the password?

"err... lemon drops?" he tried.

Nothing.

Harry sighed and started pacing in front of it. Candy. Think of candy.

He was in the middle of making a list of the names of candy that he knew when professor McGonagall walked up.

"Mr. Potter?" she asked, stern face and all.

Harry looked up at her and nodded his head towards the annoying lump of stone that guarded the Headmasters office, asking her silently for the password.

She nodded her head briskly and walked over to the gargoyle.

"Blood pops," she said simply. The statue sprang to life and leaped aside to grant them entrance.

Harry stood in the same spot and gave his professor an incredulous look when she turned her head to look at him.

"Blood pops?" he asked feeling his left eye twitch and gaining a small smile from McGonagall. "Now that's just gross."

He walked past the Professor and onto the revolving staircase, McGonagall only two steps behind.

"I must say Mr. Potter," she started, surprising him. Was that humour in her voice? "I was quite surprised that you willingly came here."

Harry turned to look at her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't get me wrong, Professor, if I could blow this little meeting off I would," he said firmly earning a questioning glance. "Might as well get it over with now right?" it was a rhetorical question and they both knew it.

Professor McGonagall nodded her head and fell silent, pursing her lips slightly.

The silence was interrupted when the stairs stopped moving and muffled voices could be heard from the small crack in the door to the headmaster's office.

Harry's ears perked up as he titled his head to the side to listen in.

"It is true Dumbledore?!" it was an unknown voice and it sounded aggravated.

Harry reached out and stopped McGonagall from knocking on the door. She looked at him ready to berate him but from the look on his face she decided better of it.

"I can assure you, Minister," Dumbledore's voice soothed, "I am not housing a vampire."

"Then what is this?" he heard shuffled papers and a chair being pushed back.

"This, Minister, will be explained at a better time. For now though I believe my deputy Headmistress is outside and is wishing to speak to me."

He heard a distinct huff and another screech from a chair.

"Good day to you Minister."

"Rest assured, Dumbledore, I will find out who the boy is."

There was the rush of flames and then nothing.

Harry stood still for a minute. It didn't take genius to figure out who they were talking about. That fact made Harry's gut clench, this was bad news. From the looks of things it seemed like the ministry was going to be breathing down his neck as well.

"You may come in any time you wish to," he heard the headmaster call out.

That was when Harry realized he was still holding Professor McGonagall's wrist; he let it go and stuffed his hands into his sweater pockets.

"Sorry," he mumbled feeling abashed.

To his surprise McGonagall gave him a smile and pushed open the door.

He walked in behind his transfiguration Professor frowning as he tried to figure the teacher out. She was actually being nice to him. That was something that Harry wasn't wholly expecting from the stern woman. He decided to just brush the issue off; he had bigger problems to deal with.

Then why was he concentrating so hard on the minor ones? Harry shook himself, his head was all over the place these days and it was doing nothing to help his already questionable sanity.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, I'm glad you accepted my invitation," he said joyfully clearing off some papers on his desk as Harry entered the office after McGonagall.

_You would have just came and found me if I didn't show up. _Harry snorted.

Without an invitation Harry flopped down one of the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk and looked over at him through his eyelashes, a bored expression on his face.

"I hope you don't mind Headmaster, I must take my leave. There is a stack of papers sitting on my desk that need grading," Professor McGonagall said nodding briskly before turning heel at walking out the door.

The door shut gently with a click and Harry found himself frowning at it. He was suddenly very uncomfortable sitting alone it the headmaster.

Silence dragged on in the spacious office.

Harry wasn't going to be the first one to say something, he was stubborn that way. So he entertained himself by looking around the office. The last time he was here he didn't get the chance to be curious.

There was a wide fireplace off to the left side of him with paintings of the old Headmasters scattered around. They were all suspiciously sleeping though.

Harry turned his head to look to the other side of himself. He blatantly ignored the headmaster as he gazed at all the silver and gold trinkets adjuring the wall. He recognized a pensieve in an elaborate glass case but that was about the only thing he could identify.

"Mr. Potter," Dumbledore started noticing that Harry was clenching his jaw.

Silence followed and Harry decided to just get this over with.

"Look we both know why you asked me to come here so go ahead... ask away," Harry knew he was being disrespectful but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Why Harry? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Dumbledore asked with sincerity that surprised Harry.

"What would you have done if I had told you?" Harry replied, keeping his voice soft. He didn't know why he said it, he already knew the answer.

"I could've helped you, Harry. We all could have."

"I don't need help," Harry automatically answered. "What makes you think I needed your help in the first place?"

"Harry," Dumbledore started. "Everyone needs help every once and a while. You don't have to be alone, we can help you. You are only a child..."

"Don't," he snapped. "Don't try and pull that 'you're just a boy' act." He held up a hand to stop Dumbledore from interrupting. He felt a strong desire to vent his anger right now and if it was on the headmaster all the better. "I can understand why you want to help, really I can, but what I don't understand is why you think I want your help. I never came to you for it and I never would have if it wasn't for what happened yesterday. The one thing you need to understand Du... _sir_ is that I am not some helpless child that needs protecting. I'm doing fine on my own, I always have and I always will." Harry stopped himself and took a breath. The headmaster sat, his hands cupped in front of him a small frown pulling on his features.

"Look, if you have questions ask away. Just take into account I'm not here to give you an in-depth look at my life." Harry scowled at the Headmaster. He shouldn't have come here. He was not here to answer questions about his life and put up with the 'why's' that were sure to be thrown his way.

"Alright," Dumbledore nodded his head. He checked the small gold watch on his wrist and sighed. "I must ask if you would be willing to go somewhere with me. But this is of the utmost secrecy and you must be willing to keep it."

Harry waved his hand dismissively. "Order of the Phoenix, grave danger: blah, blah, blah."

Dumbledore looked mildly startled for a moment before he chuckled and stood up from his desk.

As the headmaster stood Harry struggled to ask the question he had wanted an answer for since yesterday. He rubbed the back of his neck and fidgeted for a minute. Right when the Headmaster had walked behind him so he couldn't see him any more Harry asked that question.

"How many?" he asked softly. If it wasn't for the pause in Dumbledore's footsteps he would have said that the old man had never even heard him.

"Sorry?" the Headmaster asked coming back around to face him.

"How many?" he repeated louder this time steeling himself off to look up at Dumbledore. "How many died yesterday?"

He met the Headmaster's blue eyes with his own green ones silently pleading for the answer. He needed to know.

Professor Dumbledore sighed and went back to his seat. As he sat down again he looked at Harry with a grim look.

"Five died with another seventeen wounded, six of those being Hogwarts students. Of the wounded, none were bitten," he replied outright.

"You better stake the dead ones to make sure they don't come back," Harry said bluntly.

Albus nodded his head and answered, "They've already been cremated."

Harry nodded his head silently and looked down at his lap. He supposed that wasn't all that bad, it could've been worse. He chewed on the inside of his cheek and waited, Dumbledore wanted to take him to an order meeting but he really didn't want to go. What was the point, he had been kind of out of the loop lately on information and there wasn't anything he could tell them. Unless they wanted to tell him something...

No, what would they want to tell him? That wasn't right, Harry sighed. He would still go if only for the hope that Morgan would show. He had to stop himself from getting that hope up too high, it wasn't smart to put his hopes into other people. Actually he tried not to get his hopes up at all. He learned to expect the opposite since his luck was tricky that way.

His silent musings were interrupted by the rushing sound of fire.

He looked up, tensing, just in time to see the Headmaster's phoenix flame into the room.

"Fawkes," the Headmaster announced to Harry, a hint of bemusement in his voice.

The bird in question landed on his desk dropping a slip of paper on front of him. Harry titled his head, more than a little curious. His curiosity increased when Fawkes hopped around so he was facing Harry and looked right at him. His beautiful head titled in the same fashion as Harry's.

His eyebrows disappeared into his hair line as he stared right back at the phoenix.

Blinking out of his daze when the headmaster let out a small 'oh', Harry looked back at him.

"Interesting," Dumbledore muttered before standing back up. "Thank you Fawkes," he said patting the bird on the head. Fawkes let out a trill before swiftly flying back to its perch.

"Ah," the old man raised a hand before turning around and grabbing a black piece of paper and a quill. He scribbled something on it and turned back to Harry.

"Read that and memorise it," he stated handing him the parchment.

Harry looked at it. _The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London. _He just finished reading it when it burst into flame and turned to ash.

"I believe Mr. Longbottom, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger are on their way up and will be more than happy to take you with them." He smiled at Harry before holding out his arm to which his phoenix promptly flew over to.

Harry opened his mouth to ask what the Headmaster was doing but was interrupted.

"Well, if you will excuse me, there is a certain young lady I must pick up." With that said Dumbledore and Fawkes disappeared in a burst of orange and yellow flame.

Harry's head snapped back as he slumped in his seat letting a genuine smile appear on his face.

"Morgan," he whispered. _Please god let it be Morgan._

-o0o-

Well there ya have it, another chappie done and over with. Hope it was worth the wait :)

And as always; Please Review!


	14. A Dead End?

Disclaimer: Insert some witty sentence that somehow enables you to know I do not, in fact own Harry Potter.

A/N: Look! I'm Alive... or my computer is more like. Poor ol' thing.

Anyhoot, here is the long awaited Order meeting. A whole entire chapter deticated to it! And I'm sorry you all had to wait sooo long for it :( Blame my lack of computer smarts. I have to thank my beta **Steve2**, he helped so much with this chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed!!! You make my day!

**A note from Steve2**

It's not too often that a beta is able to interject themselves into the story. And this is no exception. I am not about to take over a story or a scene. Instead, I am simply going to explain why this chapter was so late. No, it had nothing to do with those aurora borealis plasma lightshows happening in the great white north. It didn't even have anything to do with the continuing unrest in south central Los Angeles. It had everything to do with a nasty bug that took out a computer. A bug that had many eyes I'm sure. It was huge. Ferocious. With little fangs that dripped venom. It flew up the back of a certain writer's computer and attacked the hard drive with gusto – the rotten little blighter. The computer fought back as best it could with some sparks aimed at the fiend, but to no avail. And that…

Steve?

Yeah, Bitter?

It was a virus. Not a literal bug.

…oh. Um… and on with the chapter!

**Chapter 14 - A Dead End?**

Harry slouched down on an old musty looking couch in Number 12 Grimmauld Place staring at the crackling fire in front of him.

The trip here was uneventful and ripe with that godforsaken awkward silence that seemed to be happening around him a lot lately. Portkey travel was something that was convenient but man, he hated it as much as he hated flooing (and he'd only done that a grand total of twice in his life). Fortunately, he'd learned how to create a portkey during his clandestine study efforts by the end of his sixth year.

Once he got inside the decrepit manor (after smacking the horrible old painting that kept insulting him – which didn't shut her up, but was a good way to hit something and relieve some of his surly tension), he promptly ignored the other people that brought him here (and who were still following him _and_ walking on eggshells around him as if he'd suddenly go off and hit them like he had the painting), he found a study with a fireplace and sat down.

Ron, Hermione, Neville and Professor McGonagall had escorted him to the dumpy old house in the middle of god knows where and mostly stayed nearby. His professor had moved to another part of the house, but his supposed "friends" stayed in the room not saying much of anything.

To say that Harry was simply on edge was like saying a coffee addict without his java juice for several days was only a little testy. Harry tried to calm himself (for the 23rd time) but his mind was in overdrive. He was going to have to do something that he hadn't done for… well… he couldn't really ever doing it in front of strangers. He was going to have to talk about himself in front of strangers. Or mostly strangers. As is, the only two people that knew anything of substance about him was Morgan and Mac. And it had taken years to gain trust on both sides before anyone said anything of substance. And now these a-holes wanted him to simply open up about his life?! Well SCREW that!

"Um… Harry?"

Harry looked to the timid voice and noticed Hermione looking back at him. "Yeah?"

"Um… we have a pretty good idea of what is going on so if you need a sympathetic ear, I'm willing to listen."

What? "Listen to what?" Harry was confused. What did she actually want from him?!

"Well, we know what it was like in Professor Lupin's youth to be a werewolf, and if you wanted to tell us what it was like for you, we're willing to help however we can," she replied diplomatically.

Okay, that's it! That's the last straw! Harry's gaze intensified, and not in a good way for Hermione. Or for Neville or Ron who were also in the room. "You want to know what it was like? Think you can handle it? Fine, I'll tell you. You won't like it, but I'll tell you. First, let's start with a little history. Think back to third year DADA. Do you know why vampires and werewolves hate each other so much?"

Hermione instantly said, "They've been natural enemies for centuries according to Professor Lupin. I always thought it was a feud that got out of hand that no one corrected, but the real reason for their animosity isn't known."

"Wrong. I know. You have to understand the differences between vamps and werewolves. Both vampirism and lycanthropy begin the same way – it is an infection brought on by a chemical reaction found in saliva that induces a magical response in the infected victim. It is one of the few ways in which muggles can become magical. The core difference between the two is that in one you die and the other you live. Now keeping that in mind, what benefits do werewolves get?"

"Heightened senses," Ron chimed in.

"You're able to heal faster," Neville added.

"Improved strength," Hermione said.

"Ron hit it first. Heightened senses. Especially smell. They smell. Now think to their diet. What do they eat?"

"Meat," Neville said bluntly.

"Yes. And what do vampires smell like? Don't know? They smell like carrion. They're dead. They smell like rotting meat. Werewolves are aware of this and don't like it. Now, here's another twist in this sordid story. The cycle of life gives us birth, living, death. Vampires are post-death. Werewolves are still-living. They are bound by the rules and trappings of life. Vampires are not. Vamps are enemies to werewolves as they are non-living. It has nothing to do with a feud or some he-said, she-said drama. It has everything to do with life. Werewolves for all their bad karma are bound by the forces of life to attack and eliminate the forces of non-life. They are essentially Nature's foot soldiers against entropy. They strive to keep a balance.

"Now, knowing all this, let's get back to little old me. I was seven years old when some stinkin' vamp tried to turn me. He bit me and sucked some blood, infecting me. He could have drained me and left the husk for cremation but he didn't. He wanted a child vamp for some perverted reason. So he took about half of my fluids and pushed me away. What's wrong, Granger, don't like the detail? I haven't' even started yet. I staggered back to the orphanage, back to my bed. I was there for days until I woke up during the day.

"I remember being too damn afraid to leave that orphanage for weeks after that until one night I sensed something odd. Unusual. I went exploring and found a vamp waiting for me, ready to kill. I later learned that it was an old executioner sent to make sure the new vamp knew the rules of the game, or to eliminate them. Only, he expected to find a turned child, not _something else_. And rules being rules, since I wasn't turned, it was time for him to kill me.

"Only he didn't kill me obviously. And it wasn't that I was a great fighter then. Nope. Let's face it; I was still a child who didn't know what was going on at all. Hell, I didn't even know about the magical world yet. What got that old executioner was a crossbow bolt through his black heart, shot by a Slayer hiding in the shadows. As the vamp crumbled to dust, I started running.

"A week later, I felt that familiar sensation and started moving again. The vamp still found me. And as before, he got a wooden bolt for his troubles and he dusted out. It took a little time for my stupidity to give way to sensibility but when it did, I realized I was being used as bait to lure other vamp hunters. So while you three were playing tag with friends, and attending parties, I was forced to witness over 35 different vamp slayings all the while thinking it was the last day I would live before the vamp killed me.

"I stayed at the orphanage for awhile before finally leaving and moving on. I never met the Slayer who'd used me as bait, but sometimes I'd get an unexpected gift of cash when I was hungry, or a message to head to a certain motel that had a reservation for me. That's when my magic first started to show and I started to grow up and learn about the world. I didn't stay in England this entire time, either. I moved around. And some of the evil I've faced wasn't focused on vamps. There are a lot of ugly people in the world who want to prey on young kids.

"Now fast forward to age 11. I get a letter from Hogwarts. I find out about the wizarding world. I find out I have a bank account, which I tell you, would have been good to know years earlier. I hated eating out of dumpsters. Still, it makes moving around during the non-school year that much easier. At age 10 I started fighting back as best I could. At age 11 with cash in hand, I started taking lessons from combat instructors on how to fight. No one was ever going to get me again.

"This is when I started finding out what improvements I had. I'll be blunt, Longbottom, I'm stronger than a full grown male. I'm probably even on par with a werewolf or vampire. Maybe even a nudge up from them all things considered these days since I'm still working on improving my overall muscle tone. And as is, death seems to atrophy muscles on vamps."

Neville's eyes tried to focus on something and failed. He asked, "If death makes them weaker, then why are they so strong? That's a contradiction."

Harry didn't miss a beat. "The nerves go first. Without the nerves to tell you not to do something, you can do more, but you end up paying for it. That's why they need the blood. Not only do they suck out a person's life force to sustain their magical being, they suck out the blood to replenish their body as best they can. Eventually it stops working which is why you don't see vamps over 1000 years old. I'm not even sure there are any over 500 years old. They just dust out. No vamp lives forever.

"Now I got a magical boost thanks to the vampiristic nature of the curse, but I have no idea how much. How do I know I got some? Easy. I was able to do wandless magic at age 8. Want to know how? Do you want me to go into detail on what it's like to kill a vamp? I'll even start with my first kill. That's when the wandless ability first came in to play."

"Absolutely not," Hermione declined with conviction. "They are still creatures and deserve our compassion more than our animosity."

Harry looked at her strangely. "Have you heard a single word of my story? What don't you understand? They are already dead. They are the smarter cousins of inferii, who are themselves only a step up from a mummy. Do you shed tears over killing a fly or a spider? You should, they are alive. If you don't, then why shed tears over stinking vamps?"

"But they are still thinking members of society," she replied.

Harry laughed at this. "You've got to be kidding me. I've got news for you, lady. To them, you're nothing more than a walking bloodshake. You want to go have a conversation with them, you go right ahead and when I next see you, I'll make it quick so you don't infect anyone else. There's a reason they are not employed by the ministry: they are unable to slake their desire for fresh blood. And humans are easily accessible. They have their own laws, own society. They are not bound by our rules."

Hermione wasn't totally convinced. "But surely there must be some good vampires out there."

Harry's voice went flat. "The only good vamp is a dead vamp."

"Have you ever encountered anyone else like you?" Ron said.

Harry shrugged. "I've heard stories of other day-walkers but I haven't met any yet. My situation is different. Day-walkers were muggles that didn't turn so they combat the vamps as they can using muggle weapons. I'm the only wizard that I've heard of that didn't turn. That makes me much more dangerous. I'm learning plenty of spells to combat vamps this year. Last year was defensive spell casting. This year is offensive. Pretty soon, I'll be ready."

"Ready for what?" Hermione queried.

Harry looked her dead in the eyes. "Ready to do some vamp genocide. That is what they are afraid of in me: that I'm going to take them out. Which is exactly what I'm going to do."

"But, Harry," Hermione started, "genocide? Surely there must be a better way than that."

"Better than what? They're killing people as we speak. There aren't just 20 vamps running around this world of ours. They aren't just a novelty that, golly, gee whiz should be preserved. We're talking well in excess of 50,000 vamps that could use some good old fashion purging. Centuries ago there were supposedly vamp councils to keep their numbers in check which in turn kept the werewolves in check. One affected the numbers of the other. Apparently that went by the wayside at some point but the werewolves have yet to up their numbers to battle the vamps. So Nature must want a new weapon to combat this menace. And at this point, I'm more than happy to take this little call of nature to the vamps. They wanted a war, well, they've got one with me!"

"But Harry…"

"Hermione, Harry's right. Vampires are dark creatures."

"Just like Professor Lupin is a dark creature? Do you want to kill him too? These people didn't ask to become vampires you know."

"No, they didn't," Harry agreed. "But they're stuck with it nonetheless. And we're stuck with the aftereffects. Besides, how many people has Lupin killed?"

"What?" came her response.

"How many people has he killed? Because every vampire has killed at least one person to stay alive; they are all killers. Werewolves are not bound by any sort of killing code. They go into a frenzy around non-living creatures, but are not bound to kill anyone."

"But they do kill people," Ron pointed out.

"True, but they are not bound to do it to stay alive. Vampires are. Every single one is a murderer, and almost all of them are mass-murderers. So you think about that the next time you want to go say hello to a vamp and invite them over for a cup of tea. You don't like Voldemort because he's a dark lord. You want to kill him, right? So he'll quit killing, right? Vamps are the same as Voldie. The sooner you realize that, the better."

Harry's breathing was still pumping fast as he finished his impromptu history lesson. That had to be the most he'd spoken to anyone outside of Morgan in the past two years. He looked around the room. More people had come in that he hadn't sensed when he was talking with his peers.

He recognized the Weasley's straight away but they hadn't approached him yet. _Thank Merlin for that! _

He sat back down and focused on the fire, using its light and slight crackling and popping to calm his thoughts and slow his breathing. It wouldn't be good to bring on a migraine this early in the night. He twirled the plain silver ring on his middle finger as his thoughts calmed down to replaying his last fight with Katherine.

It was odd, Harry could watch the fire burn calmly and lose himself unthinking, unblinking and find himself relaxing. Even if it was only slightly. He'd been able to do this for years. It was one of the few relaxation methods he used. It probably didn't help that sometimes he had to burn the corpses of those who'd been bitten and drained, and were in danger of coming back as undead. When he had to burn them, he at least stayed long enough to ensure the job was done and offer a small prayer that they find a better life on the other side. And that he'd avenge them as best he could.

He blinked out of his daze when he felt someone approaching from behind, more specifically as Sirius approached him. Harry was pretty sure that Sirius had heard most of his diatribe.

Harry tensed up but stayed right where he was. He found that his heart rate was picking up again. Great, there goes that tiny little calm he had moments before.

Sirius came around to the front of the couch and sat down. Harry couldn't bring himself to look at him but he watched from the corner of his eye as Sirius put two short glasses down on the table in front of them.

He then pulled out a bottle of what looked like Fire whiskey. As far as Harry could tell it was. Sirius popped the top and continued to fill one glass. It wasn't until he was filling the second glass that he started speaking.

"Now I know it's not beer," he said softly, "but this is the next best thing." He set the bottle down and pushed a glass so it was sitting in front of Harry and picked up his own glass.

Harry turned his head and stared at the man sitting beside him. Sirius wasn't looking at him though he was staring at the fire absentmindedly swirling the liquid around in his glass.

Harry sat up and leaned over to grab the glass. He wasn't sure what he expected but this definitely wasn't it. He picked up the glass but didn't drink any. Resting his elbows on his knees, Harry stared down and the brownish liquid in the glass and waited. He didn't have to wait long; Sirius heaved a sigh and ran his hand through his long hair.

"Look Harry," he started, making Harry turn his head and look at him. Harry decided to keep his mouth shut and his face blank. A million thoughts were running through his head, some of them on pogo sticks (which hurt). One of the foremost things was: Why is he here?

He didn't let his confusion show but decided to hear the man out.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," he said not looking at Harry. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, I'm sorry I didn't tell you who I was sooner. And I'm sorry for what happened to you." Sirius finally broke his eyes away from the fire to look at him.

They sat there and looked at each other. Harry stared hard at his godfather, the truth shown painfully clear in the man's eyes. He _was_ sorry. The silence dragged on and Harry could tell Sirius was getting a little nervous by his silence.

"You know," Harry said breaking the silence. "It's really not that big of a deal."

"Harry…"

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Harry cut him off. "Don't beat yourself up over something you can't change," he stated and took a sip from his own drink clenching his jaw as the whiskey burned his throat.

"That still doesn't change what happened to you," Sirius said. "Christ, Harry, you spent ten years running from vampires; how can you be so calm about that?"

Harry chuckled at Sirius' words.

"Look, Sirius," he said, humour in his voice. "That may be true. But before you go saying something like that, take a good hard look at yourself. You were wrongly imprisoned for twelve years and on the run for another what? Three years? You look pretty damn calm about that."

"I know that," Sirius snapped before taking a deep breath and another sip of his drink. "It's not something I'm happy about but it's also something I came to accept a long time ago…"

"Exactly," Harry said, leaning back and taking a drink.

Sirius shut his mouth with a click and looked at him for a minute.

"Alright," Sirius chuckled. Harry gave him a weird look. "I see your point. I didn't come over here to hound you for answers. I came over here to tell you I'm still here for you. If you ever need someone to talk to, if you ever need a friend I'm here."

"You sure you want me to talk about anything? Hermione said that and look where it got her," Harry said.

Sirius chuckled, not realizing that Harry had been serious when he'd said it.

But for Harry, there was that word again. Friend. The most confusing, head scratching word he had ever come across. Harry frowned and was about to ask that never ending question when Sirius chuckled again.

"I remember a boy walking into my classroom willing to give me a chance, least I can do is give that boy the same chance."

Harry felt the warmth in those words and he smiled, he actually smiled. He took another drink and stared at the fire. Maybe things weren't as bad as he made them out to be. Sirius Black, his godfather, the one person that Harry opened up to… didn't care. Well maybe he did care but he was still here and willing to give him a chance. He briefly wondered if this was how Sirius felt when Harry approached him.

Harry licked his lips and looked back at Sirius, titling his head and stared at him. Now that he looked, he could see how tired the man actually looked. He had circles under his eyes and permanent crow's feet at the corner of his eyes. Sirius turned with his eyebrows raised when he realized Harry was staring at him.

"What?" he asked a small smiled playing at his lips. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No it's not that." Harry smirked at him. "I guess I'm just… curious."

"Curious about what?" Sirius replied frowning.

Harry shrugged. "You," he said bluntly.

Sirius' frown increased. "You know… you're not the first person to say that to me," he said nodding his head.

Harry cracked a smirk but didn't elaborate on the subject. They were dipped into silence once again. Sirius fidgeted a little but otherwise stayed silent.

They both realized that they didn't really know what to say to each other. Giving the circumstances, this wasn't exactly the time or the place for that matter.

"You know," Harry started looking around at his surroundings. "For the infamous Order of the Phoenix, your headquarters is a dump."

Sirius chuckled. "What? Expecting some elaborate mansion?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.

Harry just raised his own eyebrow in response. Maybe he was expecting something a little more elaborate and … cleaner.

"This is was my mother's house," Sirius said. His tone was sober. Harry felt a spike of guilt form. Oops. "The old hag," Sirius mumbled making Harry look at him.

"I'm the last Black heir so naturally all this," he waved his hand, "got left to me when she died. I heard her portrait yelling at you when you came in."

Harry raised an eyebrow and looked at Sirius with a small smirk.

"Nice place. I punched her in the jaw, not that it shut her up."

Sirius snorted. "Tried punching her myself the second day I was here. Oh yes, It was such a joy growing up here, nothing but happy memories." He mentally kicked himself. Here he was complaining about his lousy childhood when compared to Harry's, he really had nothing to complain about. He was about to open his mouth and apologize but Harry interrupted him.

"I swear to Merlin if I hear one more 'sorry' directed at me I'm going to have to kill somebody," he said with false cheer.

Sirius blinked owlishly at him before he let out a loud bark of laughter drawing the attention of some others that had arrived.

"Fair enough," he said simply taking another sip from his glass. While he was doing that he caught a glance at the time. "Hey, we should head in there now," he said looking at Harry almost apprehensively. "Albus should be here soon," he added for good measure.

Harry sighed and downed the last of his drink.

Sirius stood up and Harry stood up with him. Might as well get this over with. Harry stretched his arms over his head and glanced at Sirius.

"Lead on," he stated making a motion with his hand.

"This way, kind sir. Oh, and Harry?"

A raised eyebrow was the only response he got.

"Once this meeting is done, you and me. We need to talk. Tonight."

They only had to walk across the room to the kitchen doorway. Sirius offered a supportive smile before he pushed open the door.

Inside were a lot of people Harry had never met before. Once the door had opened everyone in the room turned and stared. Or in the case of Snape: glared. Harry clenched his jaw and stared right back. There were too many strangers in the room for Harry's liking. Too many people that he just did not trust. He ignored the stares as best he could and sat down at the end of the table, the spot closest to the door.

Harry propped his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands. Breathe, he told himself, just breathe. He was afraid to look up at the order members that were presently in the room, he could feel their stares and it was doing nothing for his already shattered calm.

With around twenty people in the room Harry was feeling a little out of place.

Scratch that, _extremely_ out of place.

Harry sighed and dug into his pockets pulling out his pack of smokes and lighting one.

He leaned back letting his head rest on the back of the chair and looked up at the grungy ceiling. Everybody was being quite and shooting each other glances.

"I wonder when Professor Dumbledore is going to get here," Neville mused out loud from his spot two seats away from Harry.

Nobody answered him but Harry was wondering the same thing. How long was he going to have to wait here? He didn't like waiting. He took another long drag from his smoke and exhaled. He shut his eyes and rubbed his temple with his thumb, cigarette still planted between his two fingers.

He heard the door open again and felt the now familiar presence of the Headmaster enter the room. Harry still kept his eyes closed but it wasn't until he felt someone grab the smoke out from his fingers that he realized someone else had entered the room.

Green eyes snapped open. He knew who that was. His head shot down and he watched as Kelly Morgan unlatched the black bag from her shoulder and sat down tensely in the empty chair right across from him.

She looked him dead in the eye with a blank expression and took a drag from his cigarette. It took all his self control not to grin widely at the sight of her. Instead he kept his own face blank and stared right back at her.

"Dayshadow," she hissed, her face twisting into a glare.

Oh, so that's how she wanted to play it.

"Slayer," he hissed back matching the pure venom in her voice.

He leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbow on the table once again. He twisted his wrist back and with his other hand started to slowly pull out his silver dagger.

-o0o-

Neville, along with everyone else in the room, stared wide eyed between the two.

He watched as Harry took out his dagger.

He watched as Morgan took out her dagger.

He flinched when Harry jammed his into the table and nearly had a heart attack when Morgan did the same thing. He wasn't the only one; he noticed the Hermione and Ron had both jumped at the noise.

He hoped that Sirius didn't mind the new scratches into the centuries-old table. It needed a new coat of varnish anyway.

Briefly, Neville wondered if this was some sort of challenge. Were the two challenging each other to a duel? He didn't know that the Slayer was going to be present for this meeting. He certainly didn't expect the Slayer to show Harry such hostility _or_ for him to return it.

From the all-out steady glares they were pinning on each other, Neville anticipated some sort of fight to ensue. He gripped his wand and looked over at Dumbledore.

Most the other order members were fingering their own wands but the Headmaster was holding up a halting hand to stop anybody from stepping in. He was staring at Harry and Morgan with narrowed eyes and but Neville could see the worry and… curiosity? on his face.

Neville licked his lips and looked back at the duo.

Harry looked about ready to kill. His upper lip was curled and his eyebrows were impossibly pulled together. His eyes were shining in a way that Neville had never seen before. As they say, if looks could kill, Morgan would have dropped dead by now.

'Course, the Slayer's "look" was more intense than his Gran's, and that was saying something.

The same thing went for Harry though. For once Neville understood why this girl was the Slayer. She looked downright scary. The scariest thing about her right now though was the predatory smile she had on her face.

The silence dragged on. It was a suffocating silence. He was pretty sure that every one in room was holding their breath, Neville sure as hell was.

Nobody dared to move from where they were seated. A pin could have dropped onto the floor and the sound would have echoed through out the room.

But the silence was broken by the loud gurgle of Neville's stomach.

Neville's hand flew to his stomach cringing as the hollow feeling increased making his stomach clench and demand food. He looked up and noticed everyone was staring at him. He offered a weak laugh but he felt his face redden and grow warm.

He heard a snort of laughter and his eyes snapped back over to where Harry and Morgan were sitting.

While they were both still staring avidly at each other, he noticed that Harry wasn't glaring so harshly anymore and that Morgan was trying her hardest to hold in her laughter. He could see her lips twitching and it was obvious that her jaw was clenched shut. Neville felt his face redden even more as his stomach gave yet another petulant little whine.

That did it, Morgan burst out laughing. Neville chanced a glance at Harry and felt his embarrassment recede and his confusion spike when he saw a smug look fit its way onto his face. A purely superior look that was directed right at the Slayer.

Morgan let out a breath, still deeply amused at Neville's expense. She wiped at her watery eyes but froze mid- action as if just remembering something of the utmost importance.

Her eyes widened in horror.

Sucking in a gasp, she slowly brought her eyes to meet Harry's. Seeing the self-satisfied look he was sending her way, she cursed lowly under her breath.

Harry licked his lips and opened his mouth…

"You…" he started.

"Don't…" Morgan warned, through her shoulders sagged in acceptance even as she said it.

"Blinked," he smirked, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest, satisfied.

Morgan wrinkled her nose at him but had enough self control to _not_ stick her tongue out at him.

The entire room was in a state of shocked silence. Neville himself couldn't do more then just stare back and forth between the two. Only the two Weasley twins managed to start grinning, realizing they had all just been "had."

"Well," Morgan said slowly, a small spark in her eye, "you screwed up." She dipped her head at Harry.

"Thanks for the reminder," he stated dryly.

"No problemo." Morgan smirked, happy with the thought that she would never let him live this one down.

They fell into a completive silence, either ignoring, or forgetting, the fact that they were the center of twenty-some odd stares.

Neville could feel Ron tapping his knee with his hand and glancing back and forth, like the rest of the room. But if there was one thing Neville know about Ron was that….

"You know each other?!" Ron finally burst… he had no patience.

Harry looked over at him and blinked slowly.

"I would have thought that much was obvious," he deadpanned earning a wide grin from Morgan

"But you," Ron pointed at Morgan. "You said you didn't know who the Dayshadow was," he accused.

"I never said that. You didn't ask me _who_ he was, just _what_ he was." She smiled to herself, it was clear she was proud of the fact.

A slow grin appeared on Harry's face as he stared at Morgan. She didn't look all that different from the last time he had seen her. Her hair was longer and a little darker. He noticed she had a new scar on her neck and briefly wondered how she got it. There was always something about her presence that made Harry more… what was the word? He hesitated to say relaxed but he knew it was true. For some reason he wasn't so stiff and wound up with her around. Her hyperactive, carefree attitude rubbed off on him somewhat. Harry found himself staring at the large yellowish bruise forming on her cheek and smirked.

"Hey Morgan?" he asked making sure to keep his face questioning.

"Hmm?" Morgan's head whipped around and she looked back at him.

Harry took a deep breath. "You got a little something… right here" he stated brushing a finger across his own cheek.

She blinked once at him before scowling.

"Cute, Ray, real cute," she drawled at him while she gently rubbed her knuckles across the bruise.

Harry smirked widely at her. She was touchy when it came to bruises. Bruises meant that someone got a lucky shot at her and that meant that Harry got to rub it in her face. Plus it was fun to push her buttons. But deciding now wasn't the time to get her all fired up he went a different route.

"What happened?" he said, the teasing note gone from his voice and replaced with a curious note.

"I should be asking you that," she replied.

Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You don't want to know," he said shaking his head.

"What's the stats?" he finally asked opening his eyes.

Harry didn't care if they were in a room full of people. People that were still staring at the both of them but Harry couldn't care less at the moment. Morgan was here.

Morgan leaned back and licked her lips before answering.

"It's getting worse," she conceded. "I'm killin' at least fifty of these suckers every night and they just keep coming back. It's like I dust one and two more take its place."

Harry breathed out. That was not good news.

"Clans?" he questioned.

"Gettin' restless" she replied. "None of the three houses in the area have made a move yet but it's only a matter of time."

Harry nodded his head again processing that information. It was surprisingly easy to fall back into old habits.

"How's things on your end?" she asked but the meaning rang true. How's things in the wizarding world?

"Hard to say," Harry shrugged. "Got the H3 siding with Voldemort. That's a fact. They're callin' every vamp in the world here. My cover is blown wide open and not to mention… The Crow."

"Creepy crow guy?"

Harry pinched his face and nodded his head knowingly, masking and ignoring the fear flip his stomach did.

"Oh don't tell me he's…."

"Oh yeah," Harry nodded his head with a sour expression on his face.

"Damn." Morgan shook her head and ran a hand through her loose locks. "Rumour has it they attacked in the broad daylight?"

"Yup"

"Do we know how?"

"Ah hem!"

Harry and Morgan started and both looked over at the same time.

Professor McGonagall had her lips pursed into a thin white line as she was staring disapprovingly at them. Dumbledore was merely looking at them with those damned twinkling eyes of his and the rest of the Order openly stared at them in shock or confusion.

"Oh right," Morgan blinked. "Top secret Order meeting in session. Gotcha," she clucked her tongue and made an A-Ok sigh with her fingers before falling silent.

There was silence for a moment as some stared at Morgan with surprise. Minerva huffed and her nostrils flared but she otherwise stayed silent.

"Right," Dumbledore started clapping his hands. "Thank you all for coming today." he addressed the room at large. "As you all know there was an attack on Hogsmeade yesterday afternoon. But it was not a death eater attack, it was a vampire attack." He paused and let the information sink in for those who were not at the school yesterday. Though everyone had a vague notion of what had happened.

"I think it is with thanks we owe young Mr. Potter here for minimizing the damage that was done."

Oh that's just what he needed, more recognition.

Harry scowled at the Headmaster. "Thanks for the help with that by the way," he said before he could stop himself. He found he didn't regret it either.

"So it's true then?" someone asked him, completely bypassing and tossing away the guilt card that Harry had pulled out. "You're really this Dayshadow person?" it was a Weasley that said it. It wasn't until now that Harry realized just how many Weasleys there were. Harry's nostrils flared at the nickname but before he could voice what he thought about it Dumbledore cut in.

"Ah," he said. "I believe introductions are in order."

Harry sighed and waited for the headmaster to continue on.

The man stood from his seat at the head of the table. "You all might remember Miss Morgan better known as the vampire Slayer." Several people nodded. Morgan paid them no heed as she reached across the table and yanked Harry's dagger out of the table and then continued to asses the blade's condition. Harry shook his head, a hint of a smirk playing at his lips. If it was cuts and scratches she was looking for, she wasn't going to find any. He kept his weapons in tip top shape. It was one of the perks being a wizard and all.

No way was he going to let her find any. Not after the first and only time she made such a big deal about it. Not going to happen again.

"Now…" but Dumbledore was interrupted by the loud gurgle of someone's stomach.

Dumbledore paused and looked over at a very sheepish looking Neville.

"Sorry," he mumbled sinking into his seat.

Dumbledore chuckled easily and opened his mouth to once again continue but was once again interrupted by an even louder growl this time.

"Neville," Hermione cried, eyes sparkling with amusement.

"What? I didn't eat dinner," he said quietly and if possible, shrunk down lower in his seat.

"Honestly Mr. Longbottom," Professor McGonagall stated making a sweeping motion with her wand. A second later a plate full of sandwiches was sitting in front of him.

Unsurprisingly, Ron was the first to grab a sandwich but Neville was much more reserved in his getting one. Harry stared at Neville with a small smile. This meeting seemed so unorganized.

"Now then," Dumbledore started again just as jovially as before. "As you all know…"

_Brrrring brrring!_

Half the members present jumped at the sound of a phone ringing. Harry couldn't help it, he burst out laughing.

"What the hell is that?!" shouted someone, that Harry didn't know, pulling out his wand.

Harry looked over at Morgan who was still gazing at Harry's knife, determined to find _something_ wrong with the blade, unaware of the phone that was ringing loudly in her pocket.

_Brrrring brrring!_

The entire room's occupants were staring at her in bemusement. Her eyes were slightly crossed as the blade was only about two inches away from her face.

"Uhh… Morgan?" Harry asked loudly but she didn't hear him. Harry chewed his bottom lip before decided to take a different course of action.

"On your left!" he snapped.

That got her attention, Morgan whipped to the side, dagger poised just above her head at the ready. She froze, taken aback when she realized no one was there. Shoulders slumping slightly, she turned and scowled at Harry.

"Your phone's ringing," he said with shrug.

"Wh…" _brrrring! _"Oh!" she exclaimed, setting the knife down, to which Harry promptly took back, and reached into the pocket of her jacket. She pulled out the small silver phone and looking into the tiny glowing screen, perked up. Without another thought she flipped open the phone.

"What's up Big Mac?" she gushed into the phone.

Even with out his enhanced hearing Harry could hear very clearly what Mac thought of Morgan calling him 'Big Mac'.

"Okay, okay," Morgan sighed. "I get it."

There was a pause.

"What makes you think I'm with him?" Morgan questioned sweetly, absentmindedly curling a piece of her hair around her finger.

There was another pause.

"Well why don't you try his cell?" she questioned again all too sweetly.

Harry cocked an eyebrow at her. Did she just…?

"Alrighty…Kay, bye." she clicked the phone off and stuffed it back in her pocket. "Sorry 'bout that." she said to Professor Dumbledore blinking innocently.

"It's alright m'dear" Dumbledore conceded. "Now where was I?… ah. Now for most of you that don't already know…"

_Brrring brrring!_

Yup, she sure did…

"Oh for goodness sake!" McGonagall shouted.

Harry looked down at his jeans pocket just as Morgan burst out into renewed laughter. Harry snorted and stifled his own laughter as he fished out his phone.

"'scuse me" he said quietly. McGonagall had her arms crossed and she was tapping her foot on the ground and even Dumbledore looked mildly flustered.

Sirius, Harry noted, was watching the whole scene with a wide grin on his face. Hermione looked like she was trying to look disproving but was failing in the attempt.

Harry flipped open the phone knowing who it was going to be and grunted a brief "Hey."

There was a slight pause on the other end before Mac's voice became known.

"_Don't tell me that's Morgan I hear in the background?!"_

Harry grinned at Morgan. She seemed to have noticed because she stopped laughing so loudly and gave Harry a smug 'you wouldn't dare' look.

"Oh yeah," he said breaking out into a wide smile.

Morgan's eyes widened. "Traitor!" she hissed.

Mac growled on the other end of the phone. "_That girl's got no discipline….never mind_." He sighed. "_Listen I wanted to…" _But Harry tuned him out; now very aware of the severe glares he was getting from almost everyone in the room.

"uhh… Mac? I'm going to have to call you back," he said slowly.

"_Your keeping me in the dark here kid. I don't like it,_" Mac warned into the phone.

"Yeah I know. I'll fill you in later when I've got the full score," Harry replied. Without waiting for an answer, he promptly snapped the phone shut and stuffed it back in his pocket.

Harry offered a small, slightly apologetic smile to Dumbledore before turning and glaring at Morgan again. She returned the stare just as equally.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Well…" he paused just to be sure there was going to be another interruption before continuing. "I have invited young Mr. Potter here because he is in fact what the vampires call 'the Dayshadow'."

There was some murmuring but by then everybody had already figured that out. Harry ignored the stares, content to continue his second staring contest with Morgan.

"Mr. Potter. Would you consent to answering some questions for us?" Dumbledore asked.

"That would be why I am here" Harry replied not bothering to look at the Headmaster. The side of Morgan's lips quirked but she stayed silent.

"How is it possible?" Ron blurted out.

Neville scowled at him and stomped on his foot form under the table. But he had to admit he was just as curious as the next person.

Harry was silent for a moment; he didn't even know how it was possible.

"Remember what I said earlier? You have to die from a vampire bite," Harry sighed finally breaking eye contact with Morgan and looked over at a red faced Ron. "To turn into a vampire. When somebody survives a vampire bite there are only a few short term side effects from it. Like…sensitivity to sunlight, loss of appetite, things like that. But it only lasts for a couple days at most. I guess mine were just a little more… permanent." He shrugged. It wasn't exactly an answer but it was the best one Harry had come up with over the years. Only now he was starting to think there was something more diabolical involved.

Edmund Crowfield. The vampire that bit him. A very powerful vampire and a member of the H3. Why did he want Harry specifically?

Harry was beginning to feel there was some deeper meaning in this.

"What can you tell us about the Hellsome Threesome?" said a man Harry had never met before. Harry looked at him questioningly.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt" he nodded. "I work as an Auror at the ministry," he introduced himself.

Harry nodded back at him. "The H3?"

What to tell? Should he tell them everything? Harry sighed trying to think how he could work this.

"The H3 is made up of three Vamps…" He started cautiously; there were nods from almost everybody in the room. Harry glanced at Morgan.

"I explained that part already," she offered.

"Okay…." Harry said slowly. "What else do you need to know?" Harry wondered as they had the basics. That should be enough. Right?

"What are they planning?" questioned another Weasley Harry had never met before.

Harry looked as the older man cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Charlie Weasley," He introduced himself. "These are my brothers, Bill, Percy and I'm sure you met Fred, George and Ron," he continued. "My mother, Molly, and my father, Arthur."

Harry frowned, they had seven kids.

The number rang in his head. _Seven._

"You have seven kids Mrs. Weasley?" he bypassed the question that Charlie had asked him.

"Yes," Molly smiled.

"Why does it matter?" Ron said hotly, thinking Harry was taking a jab at his family.

Harry looked at Ron. He was, along with Fred and George, glaring challengingly at Harry.

"I didn't mean it like that." Harry rolled his eyes. "I just thought you should keep a close eye on Ginny."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron frowned.

"Wait, wait, wait. Your youngest is a girl?" Morgan cut in, eyebrows disappearing into her hairline.

"Yes," Arthur said questioningly, looking between the two.

"Your daughter, Mr. Weasley, will be more prone to vampire attacks. It's in her blood." Harry replied.

"It's true," Morgan nodded. "It's like she's wearing a big giant 'bite me' sign on her back."

Molly gasped and grabbed her heart. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"It's hard to explain. I just thought you should know vampires will be attracted to her. You have seven kids, all boys accept for your youngest. Don't ask me how, all I know is vampires like the taste of the blood. Especially on prime luckies," he shrugged, regretting ever bringing the issue up in the first place.

"Prime luckies?" Charlie tried to reason it out.

Lucky for him, Hermione was in the room and quickly deduced the meaning. "Prime numbers in regards to what I think Harry is saying are 1, 3, 5, and 7. And a prime lucky number would only be #7. Correct?"

"Correct. Prime luckies apparently have a little more mojo in them that is tasty to them like Captain Crunch is to me."

"Who's Captain Crunch?" Ron tried his hand at deciphering this clue.

Hermione didn't try to help him out on this one.

"Not to mention, she's a witch," Morgan added not all that helpfully.

Harry shot her a look before turning to Dumbledore and changing the subject.

"This would go a lot faster if I knew what you knew, you know?" he said.

"Yes, quite." Dumbledore agreed. "Minerva?"

"I'll keep this brief." Minerva stated bringing the attention to her. "We know Voldemort has managed to sway vampires to his side. How? We do not know. But we do know he wants Hogwarts. He is planning an attack as we speak".

Blink.

Pause.

"_What?_"Harry stared hard at her.

They were planning on attacking Hogwarts!? Hogwarts?! A flippin' school!? More importantly, _his_ school, his bloody _home_?! The one and only place that he ever called home. The only place they never bothered him?

Figures. Bunch of blood sucking jerks can't leave well enough alone.

"We don't have the details on this claim but we can assure you this is legitimate," McGonagall added.

"The wards around Hogwarts will prevent Tom and his followers from getting in but they will not prevent vampires from entering the building. We were hoping you could help us?" Dumbledore said gravely.

Neville's head shot over to look at the Headmaster. As well as most the occupants in the room. Dumbledore gave the tiniest shake of his head before turning his attention back to Harry.

Harry had noticed the small byplay that was happening around him but didn't think on it, his head was still buzzing with the words 'he's planning an attack as we speak'. He bit his lip trying in vain to get his mind to work. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that the school was going to be attacked. He shook his head squeezed his eyes shut.

Rubbing the palm of his hand over his eye, a thought struck him.

"Hey Morgan," he asked looking back at her. "You said the clans haven't made a move yet right?"

"As far as I know, yeah," she replied.

"If the H3 are behind this..." Harry paused, rapping his fingers on the table. "That means only turned vamps are answering her call," Harry whispered with a thoughtful frown on his face as he stared off to the far wall.

Everyone was staring at him with equal confusion. Harry reached down and pulled out his wand from his ankle holster. He gave it a flick and conjured some stationary. He picked up the pencil and pulled the notebook closer. This only served to fuel the Orders confusion more. Harry glanced up to see that everyone was staring at him questioningly. He sighed.

"Basically you got two types of vampires…"

"What do you mean, two? All vampires are the same. Right?" Ron questioned, giving up on the Captain Crunch mystery.

"Ron?!" Hermione burst out appalled. "Didn't you read that book I gave you on vampires? Honestly. You find out vampires are going to attack the school and what do you do? Nothing that's what you do." Hermione huffed and crossed her arms.

Ron opened his mouth to make an angry retort. Ever since the two had started going out their fights had gone from bad to worse. They would fight drastically then make up, then fight and make up. It was a never-ending cycle and it was running poor Neville up the walls. Luckily Harry started talking before Ron could reply.

"Initially, yes Ron, all vampires are the same," he continued. "But there are two different… forms… so to speak. You got the born vamps and the turned vamps."

"Born again vamps? They find religion or something?" Sirius commented.

"As if," Morgan smirked at the comment. Who knew that one of these wizards actually had a sense of humor?

Harry concentrated on his notepad and started writing something. He glanced up when all was silent; everyone was still staring at him. He looked over at Morgan to see her staring at him with amusement. She held a look that said 'you got yourself into this mess, I'm just here for the ride'. He sighed.

"Born Vamps are just that, born. Not made or turned, they are 100 percent pure vampire. They get all the bells and whistles. They begin as children and grow as they age. These suckers are immune to just about everything. Crosses, holy water, you name it. They are magic in just about every sense of the word since magic is the only thing holding them together. They lose their magic connection and it's game over for them."

Morgan leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands. She could tell Ray was going into 'lecture mode'. It was weird as she had heard this all before, knew these facts like the back of her hand and yet she couldn't help but listen again. When he talked about vampires and demons and whatever else lurked in the night, he talked like he was talking about school work. He made it sound so simple. It was something that she was never able to do.

"That is the one major difference between them and the turned vamps. They are born with power, whereas with the turned ones it takes age and experience. Crosses work on turned vamps because they don't have the magical ability to rebound the religious influence. Born vamps don't have that problem."

Harry stopped and looked and the notepad he was writing on. "That's not right," he mumbled before tearing the page out and crumpling it up. Tossing the wad of paper over his shoulder, he started writing all over again oblivious to the piercing stares he was getting.

"The H3 were all turned and they are extremely powerful. They've been at this game for centuries. They are the power block for turned vamps. And the way I see it, with the deal they made with Voldemort, they've only got turned vampires coming to their beck and call, young ones too by the looks of things. So you shouldn't have to worry about them all getting into the school. Hogwarts is still a home to many and turned vampires cant get in with out an invitation.

"Your wards still work on them for the most part, Headmaster, but it's the clans you should be worry about. Like I said before, those suckers are immune to almost everything. They can enter anywhere they please and not have to worry about… the uh consequences. Since they are magical in nature, most things magical don't affect them. Even a rampaging hippogriph won't hurt them too much. It might rip them around a little, but as long as someone is there to collect their arms and legs, a simple night of reattachment is all that's required to put them on the full mend. So here's a helpful little tip for the rest of you: when you encounter a vamp that's just a little bit harder to kill than normal, burn the body until nothing's left. Then transfigure it into water and get a priest, cleric, or rabbi to bless it. You can use it next time on both kinds of vamps – those acid baths are a blast."

Morgan tried to peek at whatever it was that Harry was writing but she couldn't get a glimpse. She had no clue what he was doing.

"There is only one way to stop a pure vamp from getting in and that's with this," he held up his notebook and flopped it down on the center of the table.

The sheet was blank except for what looked like a rough sketch of a pentagram in the center along with dozens of quickly scribbled calculations to the side. Looking closely Morgan could see clearly that it was indeed a pentagram but there was wording around the circle of it.

Latin maybe? She was just about to grab the paper when someone else beat her to it.

"What is it?" Hermione asked as she looked at it. Morgan scowled at the younger girl as she turned the paper over and around.

"'_mortuus vita may non penetro hic,'__"_ she read. Hermione frowned before looking over at Harry. "Is this… Harry what is this?"

Harry smirked at her. He tapped his pencil on the table and glanced at Morgan before answering her.

"That, Hermione, is a true vampire ward."

-o0o-

A small frown.

That twitch in those dark, delicate eyebrows was all Katherine needed so see.

"What's wrong?" she snapped.

It never took this long.

Edmund sat in a rich sultry leather chair. His long pale fingers gripped into the armrests, nails tearing into the leather. His head was bowed, black hair obscuring his face slightly.

At Katherine's voice his head jerked to the side a fraction. The movement was enough to wisp his hair to the side.

Katherine sat up. In one fluid, sleek motion she was on her feet. She stood overbearing, casting a wicked shadow down on Edmund.

With that one movement, that sudden change in the atmosphere, Etienne DeMarco tensed up from where he was leaning over by the fireplace. His knuckles curled, nails scraping the stone of the wall.

He stared unmoving at the fire.

That was Katherine's beauty, her allure. Her unpredictability and her viciousness coated her black heart with a lust that could drive any man to their knees.

"Answer me!" she hissed, voice shades darker, unleashing the demon within.

A flurry of wind whistled down the chimney. The frail orange flames flickered and trembled before dying out with a hiss.

The room dipped into that gorgeous darkness, the shadows stretched until only the slight glowing light from the hollow chimney was left untouched.

Katherine's ruby red lips pursed, her nostrils flaring dangerously. Her gleaming eyes cut through the dark void and stayed on the still form of Edmund.

"He's gone," he whispered breaking through the heavy silence.

"What?" It was a soft whisper. Deadly all on its own.

Edmund opened his eyes slowly. The animalistic gleam shinning, making it all the harder to focus on anything else.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was inside a Fidillus charm," the whisper was brought to life with anticipation and fervor.

It was no surprise when Katherine bowed her head and laughed. It started as that deep chuckle in the back of her throat before she brought her head up, smiling widely permitting that quiet laugh to rise.

When it died, leaving the air rich with shivers, she licked her lips and stared hard at Edmund for a moment. Running her tongue elegantly across her fanged tooth, she blinked leisurely, resting her eyes on the last occupant of the room.

"Etienne, honey?" she turned just as he turned. With one smooth step forward, she reached out and grasped the back of his neck with one delicate hand and pulled him closer. She ran her thumb across his cheek before effortlessly running her hand forward and down to the middle of his broad chest. She looked at his eyes, her own eyes gleaming in the darkness and _smiled_.

"I think it's time we sent him a little message."

-o0o-

Hermione looked straight at Harry, her eyes wide.

There was a pause in the air as everyone in the room comprehended what Harry had just dumped on them. But of course, the silence was broken by one, very loud, Vampire Slayer.

"What?!" Morgan squawked, practically jumping out of her seat. She reached over and snatched the paper right out of Hermione's hands.

There was a tense silence that filled the air. Morgan took one hard, albeit squinty eyed, look at the pentagram.

"I've seen this before," she murmured. She bit her lip, her eyes widened and she smacked her hand down on the table. "Oh!" She snapped her fingers for good measure and, setting the notebook back on the table, leaned down and picked up her own worn out, black, patched up book bag.

Harry was staring at her with raised eyebrows, having long since given up on trying to understand the girl. He waited it out. Cringing a little as he heard the tearing of paper, Harry shook his head and turned his attention to the others in the room.

Hermione had his sketch back in her hands with Neville and Ron looking at it over her shoulder.

"It's not tested." Harry said, nodding towards the paper. "I've been working on for the past year…"

"You made this yourself?!" Hermione blurted out before she could stop herself.

Harry shrugged, unperturbed by her outburst. "Independent study," was all he said to explain it.

"I'm not sure I understand these equations," Hermione muttered.

"Not surprising. I found a couple in some very obscure books in the restricted section of the library. A couple others I had to break out into individual components and then swipe only the pieces I need and then rewrap them into new equations. Took a while to figure out how to do that, but I'm pretty sure the results are going to be worth it."

"What results are you looking for?" Bill Weasley asked, looking over Hermione's shoulder.

"A good night's sleep during the summer months would be nice."

Neville narrowed his eyes and sucked in a breath, no doubt about to say something but was, predictably, interrupted.

"Ah ha!" Morgan cried, popping back into view. There was a horrendous noise of a piece of paper being torn and ripped.

She produced, not a slip of ragged paper, like Harry was expecting, but a worn out leather bound book.

She continued to fiddle with the delicate looking book. She undid the leather strap holding the book shut and flopped it to the side, the proceeded to flip the pages in a half hazard way. It was enough to make Hermione cringe and fidget on the spot. It was only the fact that they were sitting amidst a group of her elders that she refrained from scolding the inconsiderate girl.

It was a _book_ for God's sake! Honestly, couldn't she even show the least amount of respect for a piece of literature?

"Here," Morgan finally conceded, stopping her frantic turning of pages abruptly.

The relief that seeped out of Hermione was almost tangible.

Harry sat up a little straighter when Morgan turned the book around and pushed it across the table to him. The first thing he noticed was it was old, if the yellowed, cracked pages were anything to go by. Right when he was about to try and determine just how old the small book was, he diverted his attention to what exactly was _on _the page.

It was a pentagram.

Very similar to the one he had been working on for the past year. No, this one was still different. More complicated looking.

The lines were more intricate, more complex, they crossed over each other, swirled, connected, it put to shame Harry's own simple one.

He gently grasped the book in one hand and leaned in for a closer look.

While Harry had used Latin for his inscriptions, this one used something else. Harry frowned; he didn't know what language it was. Scandinavian maybe?

"Looks just like yours don'it?" quipped Morgan with a goofy grin.

Harry frowned, despite the smile that pulled at his lips. "Where did you find something like this?"

This… this was what Harry had been working on for the past year. A specific, definite way to protect oneself from vampires. Both kinds of the bastards. Sounded simple enough.

It wasn't.

The old saying; 'a lot simpler said then done' came to mind. Harry had spent the better part of his sixth year combing through texts on all kinds of wards. The best one that he had come across was the outdated Latin inscription wards. From there it was the not-so-easy task of getting the wording right, the symbols right, the equations right, and the application right to inscribe on the runes.

A year later, he finished it. Although he never had the chance to test it out yet, Harry was almost 100 sure the thing would work. Okay, never mind, make that 70. Could never be too sure when it came to vampires.

But here Morgan was, pulling out a book like it was nothing important. A book that had everything needed for the warding against the things that go bump in the night.

Worst part was… Harry couldn't read the bloody thing.

"I have my sources," Morgan cut in, answering Harry's question with unmistakable confidence and bravado.

Harry paused and looked hard at her. That unmistakable confidence and bravado in her voice was also that unmistakable sign that… she was hiding something. Harry leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. He knew that look. Hell, he'd seen it the first time she used it when she had lorded it all over him.

"You broke into a coven again didn't you?" he smirked.

"That hurts Ray," Morgan gasped grabbing at her heart. "I'm shocked you would even think I would do something like… alright, fine, I broke into a coven," Morgan gave in when she noticed her plea was having no effect on him.

"…"

"To be fair," Morgan lifted a finger, cutting him off. "I had no idea what that was. I figured if it was sealed behind an 11-inch steel door, twenty feet underground, it had to be _something _important."

"Uh huh," Harry drawled, turning his attention back to the book in his hands. "So you figured it was something important and yet you never said anything about it?" Harry asked. While he wasn't all that curious about her reasoning, Morgan was a pack rat. Anything and everything she could get her hands on, she held on to.

"Well, it's not like we keep in touch on a regular basis. Besides I only got my hands on it this past summer. I leafed through it once, came to the conclusion, about five pages in, that I didn't have the ability to read it. Just remembered it now, when I saw yours," she paused, sweeping her eyes across the room.

The ward Harry had drawn up was being passed around the room, though most where more interested in their conversation at the moment.

After doing his own sweep of the room, Harry turned back to Morgan, eyebrow raised.

"Romania, four months ago. Doin' a small recon job for Big Mac. Turned into a nice long farewell tour," Morgan smirked, flashing her pearly whites.

Harry returned the smirk.

"Took out the entire clan by dawn," she smiled, looking wistful. "Had them running in the other direction just an hour in."

Harry snorted. "Well, you do have that effect on pretty much everyone you meet," he stated with serious conviction.

"And oh, how I love that effect," Morgan replied rolling her eyes heavenward.

What they both had failed to notice was the mildly pale faces their casual mention of killing vampires had created.

"_mortuus vita may non penetro hic,"_ a pink haired witch interrupted, bringing the focus back to the matter at hand, when she got the paper. "What's that mean?"

Harry scratched his chin and rubbed his hand over his face, forcing his attention back to the room at large

"Roughly… something like 'dead life may not enter here'," he replied swallowing a yawn that was itching at his lungs.

"Remarkable," McGonagall whispered as she too looked at the paper.

"You're going to want draw one of those on the far north, south, east and west corners of the castle. Tap it with your wand and say '_impiger_' to activate them and bam instant vampire ward… well for now, give me a day to look over this beauty and I'll have something new." He carefully shut the leather bound book, not willing to let anyone else look at it.

A simple translation spell and he would be one his way.

Harry rubbed his hands over his face again. He felt exhausted. The day had been way too long for his liking. Heaving a deep sigh he pulled out another smoke. One of which Morgan snatched once he had it pulled out.

He stared at his empty fingers for a second before pulling out another one with a small huff. He lit it throwing a glare over at Morgan and she returned the look with a bright smile. Harry shook his head fondly at her.

"Bit of a contradiction isn't it? 'Dead life,'" Hermione broke the silence. Harry chose not to answer her question and decided it would be better to point out what Morgan said earlier.

"It only works on the pure vamps and like Morgan pointed out, the clans haven't made a move yet. Better safe than sorry right?"

"What deal did Voldemort make?" a gruff voice cut in.

Harry looked over and recognized Mad eye Moody. The real one.

"That's right," encouraged Dumbledore. "You mentioned a deal was made."

"Hey," cut in Morgan "Yeah, how are these suckers walking around in the day?"

"What was that thing you did with your hands yesterday?" Neville asked right after Morgan.

After that more questions were being thrown his way and soon the whole room was arguing and talking loudly. Harry scratched his head looking more then a little lost. He looked and Morgan and seen she was pulled into a conversation, if one could call it that, with one of the Weasley boys. Neville, Ron and Hermione were all yelling at each other. Professor Dumbledore was trying to calm his heads of houses.

Harry licked his lips and caught Sirius' eye. The man was perfectly content to stay quiet in the ruckus. Harry shook his head, feeling more then a little knackered at the moment and rested his head in his hands. Deciding he would just wait till this whole thing blew over.

He didn't have to wait long. It seemed Dumbledore had finally had enough too.

"Silence!" he yelled standing up from his chair. "Now since it seems we cannot hold a civilized conversation, shall I dismiss this meeting and continue this tomorrow?"

The effect of his words sent everybody sinking into their seats. With the exception of Harry who was looking at the Headmaster with a smile. He wished he could shut everybody up in an instant like that. He was going to have to try that out some day. He looked over at Morgan and couldn't help but snort at her face. She openly gawking at Dumbledore, her lips parted and her eyebrows raised.

"Do you think we can continue this without any more incongruous interruptions?" Dumbledore continued.

There were nods all around as everyone in the room looked thoroughly abashed. Harry's spirits lifted, something about seeing everyone put back into place just made him giddy. That, and dusting a vamp did the same thing.

"Now then," the headmaster stated bringing back his cheery attitude. "As you were about to say, Mr. Potter, about this deal that was struck?"

Harry blinked. _Oh yeah_, he forgot were he was there for a minute.

"I don't know the details. The only information I have is what I was able to get yesterday," Harry said frowning. He couldn't keep it a secret, not when the school was in danger. As much as he hated it, he had to accept that there were other people involved.

"Were you able to find out how the were walking around in the middle of the day then?" Morgan asked again.

Harry licked his lips and slowly nodded his head. "That was part of the deal".

Harry glanced over at Snape. He was sitting on one side of the Headmaster, black cloak wrapped tightly around his upper body. Harry stared hard at him for a minute debating with himself. Snape was the spy, he could very well know about the potion already and just end up feeding him a bunch of bull if he did hand the potion over. He looked him dead in the eye and continued to stare. After a moment Snape looked back at him and returned the stare.

The sat in silence, each assessing the other until finally Harry spoke up.

"Can I ask you something?" he said in a neutral voice.

Snape held still for a second before he tipped his head ever so lightly downwards in his consent.

"Can I trust you?"

The effect of his words had taken Snape back. Harry could tell. The man all but froze up even if it was hardly noticeable.

Everyone else in the room stayed quite, waiting for what sort of answer the Potions Master would give.

Harry kept eye contact with him and waited for an answer. He knew if he asked out of the blue like he did it was easier to tell if the man was going to lie. This was the tricky part.

But instead of answering out loud like Harry was expecting, Snape did something that Harry least expected. He felt something brushing the inside of his mind but before he could snap his senses shut, he heard Snape say something.

"_You ask me this inside a room full of people?"_

Harry's ears perked up. Deciding to see this through he kept his senses open.

"_That's right" _he replied.

"_And why do you ask?"_

"_You're going about this all wrong. I asked if I could trust you, not the other way around."_

There was a pause.

"_If it is trust you are looking for go to that mutt that calls you his godson."_

"_Ah but I'm not looking for that kind trust," _Harry replied with a mental smirk.

"_So you I see."_

Ooohh he's good….

"_I need to know you won't hold any information away from me. I could go to someone else but you are the best after all."_

Flattery – go for flattery.

He sensed Snape send him a questioning look.

"_Whatever it is you want, what is it that I would get out of it?" _

Urgg Slytherins.

"_I'm sure we can work something out."_

"_My, my, that is very Slytherin of you, Potter"_

Instead of taking that as an insult, or a compliment (whichever way you looked at it) Harry chose to take that for what it was… An agreement.

He blinked and looked away. What a weird feeling, though he couldn't disagree that it was whole hell of a lot less barbaric then what he felt from Katherine. Harry held back a shudder as he stood up.

He ignored the curious glances that were going back and forth between himself and Snape and dug into his jeans pocket. No one was going to dare speak out of turn, not after getting yelled at by Dumbledore.

Harry found what he was looking for and pulled out that skinny vile.

He walked up along the long table until he was standing just behind Professor McGonagall and across from Snape. He reached across and set the murky yellow potion delicately on the table. Harry looked at Snape just in time to catch his reaction.

The man was staring at the vile with something akin to hunger shining out of his eyes.

"It's a potion," Minerva stated blankly.

"I don't know what the hell is in it, but it has one helluva sun block agent," Harry replied watching as the potions professor reached forward and grabbed the vile off the table.

By his reaction, Harry could tell Snape had never seen the potion before and that sent a minor wave of relief down his spine.

"Severus?" Dumbledore questioned.

"I've never heard of something like this before. Not even whispers about it from the other Death Eaters." He looked up at Harry and back at the potion.

"My guess is Voldemort holds that special ingredient that the H3 want," Harry started, moving back and slumping into his seat. "So the way I see it, the H3 agreed to attack the school for him if he gave them whatever it was that is needed for that." He jerked his head towards the yellow potion.

"Well if that's true then why did they attack Hogsmeade? Just to show that they could? I mean why not wait until whenever it is that they are going to attack and surprise everybody?" Hermione asked, frowning at the table top.

Harry hung his head. Great, that's just great. Now he gets to point out that it was all because of him that those vampires were there in the first place. It was because of him that those people were dead and injured.

"Probably just to show that they could," Morgan stated confidently. She was leaning back in her seat, with her feet propped up on the table. The notebook that Harry had conjured was sitting in her lap and she was drawing something on it. If Harry had a guess, she was most likely copying the ward that Harry had drawn.

Morgan wasn't stupid though. She knew why the vampires were there in the first place. Sending a look to Harry she cleared her throat.

"Vampires are like that. They like to show off, doesn't matter if it ends up getting them killed. They're always trying to show what kind of power they have over humans."

Harry shook his head. The excuse was plausible, but it still didn't change the fact that…

"That doesn't make sense," Mad-eye shook his head. "The H3 were there. Something tells me those vampires aren't too keen on letting the world know just how powerful they are."

"They were there for me," Harry said loud enough to cut Morgan off from whatever she was going to say. "It was a set up and I fell for it."

He looked up at Moody in a challenging way, daring him to say something. Moody took one look at him and safely aborted whatever it was that he was going to say next.

There was silence for a moment.

"Well," the Headmaster stated. "I think will conclude this meeting for tonight. As always keep your eyes and ears open for anything." With that said he stood up along with his deputy Headmistress.

The room slowly emptied and Harry was grateful Sirius was still sitting beside him. Harry was waiting for everybody to leave before he headed out himself. Sirius sat waiting too and glaring at everybody who were even thinking about approaching his godson.

Harry appreciated the gesture all the same.

-o0o-

"Weird kid," Tonks observed. She was standing by Neville and throwing on her cloak as she got ready to leave.

"He's not so bad," Neville replied with a shrug of his shoulders. He avoided Tonks' gaze and instead watched as Molly Weasley gave her son a hug and a kiss on the cheek before making her way outside with the rest of the Weasley clan.

He could feel Tonks staring at him but couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze. He didn't know why but he felt small all of the sudden.

This war had just gotten a whole lot bigger and for the one person the was prophesised to kill the greatest Dark Lord of all time…Neville snorted, how corny did that sound?

But in all actuality, he felt like he really couldn't do it. Christ, he was only one person. One single person wouldn't be able to take down a powerful wizard like Voldemort.

And what was his secret power? Love? Neville scoffed. Love didn't cut it in Neville's books. What could love do? Could it kill somebody? Like fall to the ground dead kill somebody? Neville didn't think so. He was staring to doubt this so called 'power he knows not'.

"It's odd you know?" Neville came back down to earth when he heard Tonks. He looked at her realizing she was still standing beside him.

"Pardon?" he asked.

Tonks smiled. "You and Harry. It's odd."

Neville frowned. "What's odd?" What was she talking about?

"Oh come on Neville," Tonks laughed. "Use that brilliant noggin of yours." She reached out and rapped him on the head with her knuckles.

Neville slapped her hand away and glared at her which in turn forced her to sigh heavily.

"I don't know, I just find it odd," she shrugged.

Neville groaned. "What's odd already?" he was losing his patience.

"Think about it Neville. Boy- Who- Lived," she pointed at him. "The Dayshadow," she pointed over to Harry, who was making his way out of the kitchen. "By all counts, you both shouldn't even be alive. Now tell me that isn't odd."

Neville opened his mouth but paused when he realized that she was right. That was odd. But as odd as it was, Neville couldn't help but think of how Harry had a way cooler nickname than him. Come on, he would take the name 'Dayshadow' over 'The Boy- Who- Lived' any day. Think about it, how demeaning does 'boy- who- lived' sound anyway?

"Well I better be on my way," Tonks said reaching forward and ruffling his hair. When Neville didn't react she chuckled and turned making her way towards the exit.

Neville blinked slowly. He seen Ron and Hermione making their way towards him and it dawned on him that Tonks was already almost at the door.

"Oh! See you Tonks!" he called.

Tonks spun around and smiled. She gave him a brief wave before turning and… walked right into the closed door.

"Ouch," He heard her mumble, rubbing her nose. Neville grinned in amusement watching as she slowly (albeit cautiously) pulled the door open and disappeared behind it.

Turning, he met the eyes of Ron and Hermione. He smiled at his friends but the warm smile slipped off his lips when he looked past Hermione's shoulder.

The only thought that came to his mind was a very sentimental and heart felt 'uh oh'.

He saw Sirius walking out of the kitchen and just a few feet behind him was Harry. Okay, nothing out of the ordinary with that and it wasn't that particular scene that Neville was worried about.

It was the grinning Slayer that was slinking up behind Harry that had alarmed Neville.

-o0o-

Phew! Hope you guys liked it :)

To be fair, I didnt want to end the chapter here, but I think it was already starting to drag on a little bit and this looked like a good spot to stop ;)

Some of you have been wondering about what the heck the H3 are planning. While there have been small hints and clues dropped every now and again, I will give you a little something right now.

So, for those of who never cought it... Heres something to think about for a second... Go back and read the _name_ of the Orphanage Harry was left at. Ring any bells? _(it can be found at the beginning of chapter 10 ;))_

(grins) and Please review!

Oh! and as a completely irrelevent note... Today is my Birthday! Woop! Went on a big shopping spree and spent waaay too much money!


	15. A World Apart

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: No dont own it. Sadly this fact still hasnt changed.

A/N: *backs away slowly* hehe So umm yeah... It's an Update! Whoop! Be happy... not mad at BitterIcing.... Please? But yes I will admit I lost the will to write a long time ago, not to mention I had absolutely no time for it either. Let alone read. But I recently re read my story and lo and behold! I had found the inspiration to write some again!

I know it's a very short update, but I felt the need to get this out now. And be warned!!!!!!! Sadly this chapter is unbeta'ed... Havent talked with Steve2 for quite some time now. Im Considering emailing him though!

And I am very sorry I made you guys wait... Two friggen' years! Wow has it really been that long?

Anyways enjoy this tiny little chapter.

**Chapter 15 A World Apart**

_Be not angry_

_that you cannot make_

_others as you wish them to be,_

_since you cannot make yourself_

_as you wish to be._

_~Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, c.1420_

Pain exploded all around him, wiring his senses to the point of no recognition.

"Be grateful" her luxurious voice sang into his ears. Whispers of sweet nothingness. The only thing he was able to focus on and he hated himself for it. "That we don't just kill you now!"

A vicious snap and he was sent sprawling ten feet across the barren desolate cracked pavement of the back alley.

His head hit the pavement hard and he saw stars for one brief glorious moment. He rolled onto his stomach and attempted to pull himself up. But to no avail. He was weak, drained. He rested his forehead on the cold cruel pavement in defeat. Gasping for breath, clouded eyes shut tight in a vain attempt to block out the pain.

'_There's nothing wrong with me!'_

His own voice danced in his head. It was said with such conviction that he almost believed himself for a moment. Almost.

'_I'm sorry'_

"I'm giving you a choice Harry Potter" That same voice sang, stabbing through the fog.

Blood dripped out from his lips as he let out a choking cough. Why was he fighting? Fighting for people that didn't care if he lived? After all he was a freak, looked at with fear and curiosity. So why was he protected them?

'_Thank you... for saving me'_

This voice was not his own. His head was cloudy and muggy, he couldn't think straight. Images were running scattered through his vision.

The small red headed girl with a great power that both scared and enlightened her, sitting up in a crisp hospital bed... thanking him.

'_I owe you my thanks young man'_

A flash of the redhead's mother played across his vision. He remembered the hug, the glistening gratitude in her eyes. He had saved her daughter and for that she could care less about what he was.

'_Take care kid'_

The deep rumble of the old man's voice. The man with the hard cold face but kind eyes, gripping his shoulder and looked him in the eyes with concern. He didn't want to see him dead anytime soon.

'_I remember a boy walking into my classroom willing to give me a chance, least I can do is give that boy the same chance.'_

Sirius Black's face came into view, a brief flash but he still saw the man looking at him with so much sincerity that he smiled. Actually smiled.

He couldn't remember the last time he did that.

His fingers dug into the ground. Is this what it felt like to die? No... It couldn't be.

'_If you're going to do this... we do this together. Besides' she smiled that crooked grin of hers. 'You need the backup.' A playful punch to the shoulder made him grin._

Where was Morgan? He heard her scream. Was she dead?

He opened his eyes and stared trying his damndest to focus on something, anything at that moment.

"It is your decision now Dayshadow." Again that voice cut through all his senses. That power and beauty.

But he couldn't.

No, he wouldn't.

With a low growl that rumbled deep his from his chest, he pushed himself up onto his knees. He looked up at the entity that stood above him.

If anything, he was not a coward.

Her dark hair flowed freely in loose waves down your shoulders. That alluring smirk on her flawless features. She stared, stared right into his very soul.

With the strength he didn't think he possessed at that crunching moment, he forced himself to stand up and face her. Eye to eye.

So he stared right back into those deep violet eyes and he knew, even as he couldn't bear to rip his eyes away, that she knew what his answer was going to be even before he voiced it himself.

"Alright" he said voice deep and cracked holding an almost defeated air to it. "We have a deal."

Katherine Potter's laughter pierced through the dead night. A laughter that could wake the dead and slaughter the living to insanity.

And Harry Potter knew he had played right into her hands again.

_Two Days Prior_

Harry's ears were ringing.

Not horribly mind you. Just a faint buzzing that started as soon as he stepped out of the kitchen. His ears perked up, head titled, eyes narrowed but he continued on just two steps behind Sirius.

No, no. He knew that buzzing. He felt an odd sense of déjà view overwhelm him, whipping through to his very soul.

Oh yes, he should most definitely know this feeling.

But why in all things unholy could he not place where he should know this odd feeling?

He looked up to catch the eye of none other than Neville. A frown formed on Harry's face as he noticed that the other boy looked completely and irrevocably... afraid? Huh, well that's just silly. Neville shouldn't be afraid of him, point and fact he wasn't. That much harry knew. So why was he looking at him with that look? That was when Harry noticed. Neville wasn't even looking at him. No, Neville was in fact looking at something just past his shoulder.

The feeling came back tenfold when Harry realised just _who_ was behind him.

_Morgan!_

"Oh Shi...."

His surprised outburst was cut brutally short when a very sudden and entire human weight was latched onto his back. A grunt escaped Harry's lips as the force of the impact sent him doubled over.

Apparently that was the desired outcome because Morgan, the blasted slayer that she was, used his bent form to flip herself over his back and in the process grabbed him firmly by the upper shoulder.

Now being that Harry had yet to get his bearings, the was nothing he could do for when she landed on her feet, with her back to him, and yanked hard on his arm while she bent over.

In the span of half a second Harry landed with a loud thud on the hard wooden floor.

_Damn _

He really should've seen that one coming.

The first thing he was able to focus on was Morgan, that blasted slayer, grinning directly above him. Still standing he might add. Both feet were on either side of his head while she crossed her arms and made a show of looking very much like the cat that got the canary.

"Gettin' a little rusty there..."

But it was Morgan's turn for her reply to be brutally cut short.

Harry was irked, which was completely justifiable in his books, so he wasted no time in throwing his hands up and grabbing Morgan's ankles. With one quick and easy yank he pulled her feet quite literally out from underneath her.

The loud crack of her head hitting the floor was all the satisfaction Harry needed to put him in a right cheery mood.

He put his hands behind his head and pushed himself up and with a swift movement was back on his feet. With just enough time to block the booted foot that was flying at his chest. Grabbing it with both hands and he couldn't help but let a smirk grace his features has he stared at Morgan.

She grinned back despite obviously being at the disadvantage. Her arms were up fists at the ready and her other foot was planted firmly on the ground.

o0o

There was not a lot Neville could do but stare at the scene before him, mouth agape.

He had that sinking feeling in his stomach when he saw the Slayer sneak up behind Harry that a fight was going to break loose.

The enitial scuffle was a blur. No what had Neville all agape was the fact that they both wore grins on their faces as they hit each other.

The soft brown haired boy sparred a glance at his two friends standing by his side. He noticed that they too were looking just as bemused as he was feeling.

Padfoot on the other hand looked calm as he leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and a slight quirk on his lips.

A loud thwump brought his attention back to the couple in the center of the room.

Harry was on his back, a grinning Slayer pinning him down.

There was a brief disgruntled look Harry's face before it was replaced by a myschevious smirk.

"If you wanted to be on top love, you could have just asked." He stated, smirk growing into a full blown smile.

Neville only had time to let out a surprised cough before Morgan's disgusted snort broke out.

"In your wet dreams kiddo"

With that she easily stood up, offering her hand to Harry.

He took the proffered hand and stood as well. Straightening his jacket and looking for all the world like nothing just happened.

Morgan raked a hand through her loose hair and looked around. A surprised expression fitted across her features when she noticed the last occupants of the room were staring at them. Yet again.

Neville coughed and averted his eyes when his met with Morgan's for a small second. Instead he went about putting his cloak on.

"Well kiddies" The slayer exclaimed, partly to break the awkward silence that filled the room. "I don't know about you lot but I am absolutely famished... wait is that the word?" she paused before shrugging "anyways Black you gunna take me to my place of residence or what?"

Sirius just grinned that wolfish grin his and nodded his head.

"Let's go if we're going" he said and tossed something small and shiny to Harry.

Who, out of reflex, or instinct caught it.

"A spoon?" He asked.

"Yes a spoon." Sirius said with a smile. "It's a portkey, and it has the pleasure of getting you four back up to school."

In no time the odd group was out the door and standing in the street just outside headquarters. Sirius dutifully waiting till they were gone before he took the Slayer back.

Neville bit back a yawn. Tonight had been a long night.

o0o

Harry sighed.

As much as he hated to admit it, this had been a bloody waste of his time.

Sure his secret was out. Not that he wanted it to be but maybe it was better this way anyway.

He wasn't looking forward to going back to school. He loved that place, he did.

Now though, everyone noticed him and come Monday when the papers printed... he really didn't want to think of that right now.

He caught Morgan's eye and saw the concern that was sparked in her eyes.

"Take care of yourself Ray" she stated. "We'll be in touch." A small wrinkle of her nose and a smile.

Harry didn't say anything just nodded his head in assent.

"Ready?" Hermione's voice asked.

"Yup" he heard Ron and Neville agree.

He looked at the three and noticed how tired they all looked. He knew they were not going to question him anymore. So he nodded his consent and touched the spoon with a finger.

Within the seconds the feeling of dizziness enveloped him and he hearing was blocked by the roaring sound of wind. But as soon as it started it stopped.

Harry didn't tumble or fall like the other three. His feet were planted firmly on the ground but his upper body did jerk forward slightly from the impact. They had landed right outside the Hogwarts gates and he wasted no time in heading back up into the castle.

Sleep. Sleep would be much appreciated right now.

He didn't look back to see if the other were following or not, or even if they were okay. It looked like they weren't that great with the art of Portkey landings.

A small sad smile quirked at his lips as he remembered the first time he had experienced a Portkey.

It wasn't pleasant.

No he never did like Portkeys and he didn't think he was going to grow fond of them anytime soon.

He climbed the stairs to the massive double door entrance of Hogwarts and didn't hesitate to go right in.

Harry had already reached the top of the first landing of the grand staircases. So lost in his thoughts was he that he didn't notice the quiet footsteps approaching up behind him.

o0o

Neville, Ron and Hermione noticed Harry's quick departure but didn't comment on it. More concerned with getting themselves up off the ground first. Never the less Neville still frowned at the black haired boys retreating back.

They got themselves straightened out at headed back the same way as Harry. But as soon as they got inside the safety of the castle Ron's voice broke the silence.

"Think we should go nick some food from the kitchens?" he asked.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. But there was still a shadow of a smile on her face.

Typical Ron.

"What? Can you blame a bloke for being hungry?" it was rhetorical. Anything to do with food was rhetorical when it came to Ron.

Neville couldn't help the smile that graced his features when Hermione made a smart comment back. Rhetorical question or not.

Typical Hermione.

"You guys go ahead" Neville stated breaking off the friendly bickering. "I'll see you guy's back in the common room."

With that said he bounded up the steps leaving his two friends behind.

He made it up the steps in no time. He turned a corner and saw a shadow ahead of him. Despite himself his breath caught in his throat before his brain could catch on.

His first thought was Filch! But as he looked closer he recognized the shadow to be none other than that of Harry Potter.

Neville shook his head and berated himself. Maybe it really was time for bed.

Picking up the pace he caught up to the other boy. When harry didn't turn around Neville reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

Apparently that was a bad move.

A very bad move.

What Neville should have remembered was that Harry Potter was a dangerous person.

Especially when startled.

o0o

Sirius and Morgan walked down the road in silence.

Sirius had asked if it was okay if they walked for a ways before he would apparate her to the dungy motel she was staying at. She agreed the man looked like he needed it.

But the one thing Morgan had not counted on was the dreadful awkward silence that would envelope their walk.

And if there was anything Kelly Morgan hated more, it was silence.

Looking at the man she could see he was lost in his head and it didn't take a genius to figure out who his thoughts were wrapped around.

She cleared her throat and lamely kicked a rock that was in her path.

Ah what the hell she thought. Might as well make this an enlightening walk.

"Ray is complicated." She said bluntly and none too loudly.

It did the trick though because Sirius blinked his glassy eyes and turned his head to look at her in confusion.

"'cuse me?" he asked

"Look" she cleared her throat again. "Your his godfather right? So let me give you a bit of advice"

They had stopped walking and he now had his full attention on her, which made Morgan squirm.

"I understand you want to be in his life but there are a few things you need to understand about Harry...."

She paused and looked at him with a deadly serious face.

Sirius didn't like this look on her face at all.

Morgan stopped to think about what she was going to say next. True Ray would probably kill her for divulging potentially dangerous information about him. But this man standing before had her believing that he truly did care and Morgan wasn't one to ignore a gut instinct. The same instinct that kept her alive every single god forsaken day of her pathetic life.

Yes she hated her life. Okay maybe hate was a strong word in her position. It had its perks. But there was still a longing in her heart that craved for some sense of normalcy.

A normalcy that she had only briefly experienced when her mother was alive.

"....Please...."

Oh crap, he was talking to her.

Morgan shook her head and blinked her eyes.

Sirius seemed to catch on and repeated himself.

"I think he's just starting to trust me, I don't want to lose that. So please if you could tell me something, hell anything."

She couldn't help it, she didn't mean to really but what he said just made her crack up and let loose a short surprised laugh.

"Sorry" she amended when he gave her a funny look. "I guess the first thing I should tell you about Ray is that, well He's got a funny view on trust."

o0o

Neville let out a very surprised shriek.

No scratch that, a very dignified manly yell.

When he had touched Harry shoulder he should have expected Harry to whip around, grab his arm and pin it behind his back.

But he didn't, hence the manly yell.

It was until his own shoulder was on the verge of popping out of its socket that he gasped out "Harry!"

His arm was let go in a second flat and he brought it around and held his arm close to his body while he rubbed his shoulder.

"Sorry" Harry mumbled looking at him through guarded eyes.

"No I'm sorry" Neville amended. "I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that."

Harry shrugged and turned and kept walking.

Neville rolled eyes and took a couple quick steps to catch up to him.

"It's okay you know" he said. "I know you weren't going to hurt me. Well not on purpose anyway." Well it was true but not entirely for he knew Harry was capable of a lot of hurt.

But still that didn't mean that he was going to purposely hurt him.

"You trust to easily you know." Harry low voice broke through the silence.

"What?" Neville asked slightly bemused.

Harry quirked and eyebrow. "You" he said again. "You trust far too easily."

They had stopped walking at were now facing each other.

Neville had paused to think about that. Did Harry think he didn't deserve Neville trust?

"You saved my life Harry" he said as if that answered it. "Why wouldn't I trust you?"

To his surprise the other boy smirked at him.

His face was half hidden in shadows, eyes glinting dangerously in the dark.

Harry advanced on Neville slowly. Neville found himself taking steps back as Harry got closer.

Neville's back hit the wall but he didn't take his eyes off Harry. What was he doing?

"What makes you think...?" Harry whispered as he leaned in to Neville's ear, sending a cold shiver down his spine. "That I would trust you with mine?"

With that said Harry backed away leaving Neville standing there blinking in shock.

Neville gulped and shook away the inexplicable fear that gripped his heart.

Harry could be scary when he wanted to.

o0o

"Mind you, I guess everyone as a funny view on trust." Morgan stated before shaking herself back on track. "To put it simply Harry doesn't trust." She looked into Sirius' eyes. "You could trust Harry with your life; I know I sure as hell do. But, but that doesn't mean he's going to trust you with his."

Sirius' eyes clouded over as he thought about it. It did make sense when one thought about the life Harry lived. Why should he trust? Anybody for that matter?

"Don't get me wrong" Morgan started again. "We watch each other's back out in the real world. But I think that's as far as it goes between me and him."

"What do you mean?" Sirius found himself asking.

Morgan's face clouded over in slight despair. "He taught me so much" she said looking down at her feet afraid that if she met his eyes she would stop. "Taught me everything, yet he's never told me where he learned it at from, never told me about his past, his ambitions, hell his likes and dislikes. Sure we can joke around and laugh about our lives but Harry, he's a fighter through and through. "

This was a different side of the Slayer. He had gotten used to the oddly cheery and eccentric girl that he had only met twice but still, she had that personality that left a very distinct and lasting impression on somebody. He should have known there was a darker side to this girl. After all she was a slayer; her life couldn't all be sunshine and rainbows, despite the front she puts up.

Sirius opened his mouth surely to say something but Morgan continued.

"You know when I asked him what he planned on doing in the future. What he said?" she didn't see Sirius shake his head but was already surging on. "He laughed at me." She let out a dark chuckle. "He has been fighting his entire life and he firmly believes that he's going to die fighting."

The pair lapsed into silence. Morgan stuffed her hands deep into her pockets. Sirius really should have known that. But hearing it out loud just set it in stone.

"Do you know the life expectancy of a slayer?" she asked finally looking up to meet his eyes. "Three years, tops."

Sirius looked at her with a concerned frown.

"I once had plans for the future." She laughed bitterly. "That was before _destiny_ called. I understood a long time ago what being the Slayer meant. But it wasn't until I met Harry, until after that conversation that I really understood you know?"

Sirius couldn't find his voice. So he opted to keep listening.

"I know why Harry believes he is going to die fighting because that is what going to happen to me too. Difference is when I die, another Slayer will be called. With Harry, when he dies. No one is going to replace him. He's one of a kind." A sad smile appeared on her face.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Morgan was staring at him with an intensity that scared him. Her eyes were far too old for her face and he realized that Harry carried that same look in his eyes where ever he went. They were just kids for Christ sake. Morgan shouldn't have to believe that she was replaceable when she died. And by the sounds of it Harry shouldn't have to believe that his death won't mean anything. They shouldn't have to be in the middle of a dark world knowing that they are going to die... prepared to die young.

The silence stretched on to an almost unbearable level.

Sirius sighed, shoulders sagged and Morgan shifted and stared walking down the street again.

"Don't let him die alone."

o0o

"What was that about?" Neville asked incredulously as he caught up to Harry.

He knew Harry was scaring him on purpose. Why? He didn't know and damn his Gryffindor recklessness was itching to find out.

"Your sheltered Neville" Harry responded leaving Neville more than a little confused.

Also more than a little angry. Neville had faced things, fought and seen someone die right in front of his eyes. Hell he faced Voldemort countless times.

He was not sheltered.

"I get it" Harry voice cut through when he caught the look in Neville's eyes. "You've been through fights before, but you're not in the real world Neville. You want to know about the real world?"

He was looking ahead and Neville grew quiet. Harry was partly right about one thing. Neville did not live on his own; he still had people to take care of him.

Harry didn't.

"Like I said before, you trust too easily. Life is not trust Neville. Once you're out in the world, right in the thick of things, you know what you going to find? Nothing." He stated bluntly. "You watch your back and nothing else. This world is full of traitors, backstabbers and liars.

"Eventually you're going to be pushed into that world. You might not like what you find but you're going to find it regardless. You're a key player in this war Neville." Harry stared at him.

Neville stared back and realized for the first time the look in Harry's eyes.

Suddenly he didn't want to know.

He didn't want to know, he was so eager to fight, to help in any way possible that he forgot what he had to lose. The faces of all his loved ones raced across his mind.

Harry fought his entire life and you could see it in his eyes.

"Enjoy what little time you have left." He said. But even has he said it Neville knew the other boy didn't truly know what he meant.

That was when Neville understood something about Harry Potter. It clicked into place like it had been there all along.

Harry Potter had never had any sense of a normal life not even for the briefest of moments. That was why he came back to Hogwarts year after year. He had gotten a taste of what normal could be like.

And he wanted to protect that. Even if he couldn't fully be a part of it. An outsider on the inside.

o0o

Harry was lying in his bed in the Gryffindor dorms, fully clothed on his back arms up over his face.

He was in one of those moods. He didn't like feeling like this but it was such a familiar feeling. True these past couple weeks the feeling had, well not fully disappeared, but dulled down.

He thought about what he had said to Neville.

He didn't know where his outburst had come from but the boy got on nerves. Neville Longbottom was naive. He was a Gryffindor to the max and charged in headfirst without thinking.

Granted some would say Harry did that too but has much has he hated to admit it he was smart about it. He was a quick thinker and skilled.

Maybe Neville needed a wakeup call and Harry was there to give it to him. As Harry thought about it he knew he saw a spark of understanding in the boys eyes. It wasn't hard to miss; he was an open book with his emotions.

Harry had come to realize that Neville Longbottom was very eager to jump headfirst into a war. This was a very valuable trait for the Boy-Who-Lived but not for Neville Longbottom, the seventeen year old boy.

He figured he would at least try and give the boy a glimpse of the life he was racing into. The life Harry Potter was born into.

Roughly pushing those thoughts aside, he mulled over a much important issue.

The H3.

They were planning an attack on Hogwarts. But what he wanted to know was why? What did they have to gain from attacking a school? What did they have to gain from working with Voldemort for that matter?

He would have to look over the book Morgan had given him first thing. At least to work out some small protection against vampires.

He bloody hated Vampires.

Harry groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. He needed sleep. The same thoughts kept repeating themselves in his head till he couldn't think clearly.

No, best to worry and think and plan...

Merlin he hated plans.

In the morning.

o0o

Monday came in a flash and before Harry knew he had to face the school population. Ignoring the other boys in his dorm was easy has staking a vampire but a thousand other kids?

Yeah not so easy.

He was dressed in his usual garb. Nothing fancy but he made damn sure he had his weapons on him.

He donned his black sunglasses and headed down to the common room.

He shouldn't have been surprised to see Neville, Ron and Hermione waiting for him. But instead of the spark of anger he would have normally felt, he felt oddly comforted.

Harry shook his head and pushed the feeling aside. Now was not the time.

Face set in an angry scowl he granted the trio a small nod of his head before walking past them and out the portrait hold. He knew they were going to follow him.

He just wanted to get this over with, he really didn't care what the prophet was going to say or didn't say for that matter.

They walked in silence down to the great hall to face the student body. It was the oppressive silence that usually followed harry around, it was the determined silence that no one wanted to break.

As Harry had waited until the last possible moment to head down to the great hall for breakfast it wasn't a shock that almost every single person was there now as well.

When he walked in, the trio followed closely behind, no one noticed him at first. Until one person pointed him out then the next and the next till the entire hall was silent with small whispers and stares.

Looks like the Daily Prophet had already been delivered.

Harry clenched his jaw, seriously contemplating turning around and hiding out in the library.

"C'mon Harry" A gentle voice said quietly by his side.

He turned and looked at Hermione, she had small timid smile on her face. She nodded her head to the vacant empty spot at the Gryffindor table.

He followed and sat down hunched.

Harry glared down at his scrambled eggs, he was really eating it save for small distracted bites. Ron and Neville were talking with each other casually sending him glances every now and then, which he dutifully ignored, like the world around him.

It wasn't until he heard Hermione hiss out an angry ``Bigots! `` that he looked up for the first time.

She had a Daily Prophet sprawled out in front of her, Ron and Neville reading over her shoulders expressions clouded and angry.

"How could they?" She seethed.

Harry quirked and eyebrow at her. He had a feeling the article didn't have anything nice to say about him after what many people saw him do in Hogsmead.

o0o

A/N: Confused??? Yeah me too!

Sorry! Theres was going to be more but my computer started doing some funky stuff so I decided to post what I had before I lost it.

Then! Then I had to deal with this new fandangled system FF's got going on. Yes it confused me.

But yes there will be more soon... :)


	16. A Message

A/N: Much love to Steve2! My wonderful beta. Couldnt do it without him :)

On another note, sorry it took so long to get this out. It took me a while to write the thing now my computer as made its mission to give me hell every day! Anyway hope you guys out there like it!

Chapter 16: A Message

The picture on the cover was obviously of the fight at Hogsmead. It was a bit hard to make out at first since the objects of the picture were mostly moving blur-like shapes but when one stared at it long enough there was a pause were a vampire exploding into dust which left Harry, in all his reckless glory, whipping around to face the camera before he ran out of the frame.

Stupid reporters.

Harry was too sidetracked that day to realise that somebody out there snapped a shot of him fighting.

Stupid.

He knew everything about that day was stupid.

He was even stupid enough to get his picture taken.

_Damn it._

**Confusion Strikes Hogsmead!**

That was the bold threatening headline above that _stupid_ photograph.

_It started off like any other Saturday in the pleasant village of Hogsmead. It wouldn't be until the afternoon, when the sun was high and warm in the sky, that blind panic and confusion would spread._

_As many of you out there might have known, this last Saturday was a day the students of Hogwarts were allowed to spend the day in the village. So you can imagine the streets and stores were packed and bustling with many young witches and wizards._

_Then tragedy struck and screams ripped through the air._

_That's right, Hogsmead was attacked! But not by You-Know-Who's fearsome Death Eaters. It has been confirmed that it was vampires. Yes my dear readers, Vampires. How? You may ask. That question has yet to be answered but the Ministry's top employees are looking into it._

_In a curious turn of events, the small town was not squashed like a pesky bug that day. The death toll tallied up to only a mere eleven witches and wizards. With the injured at a total of nineteen. With an attack of this magnitude these numbers are frightfully low. With a bit of research it seems that the vampires were looking for someone. This someone, a Hogwarts student by the name of Harry Potter (pictured above) who is seventeen and in his seventh year, is the son of deceased Lily and James Potter. (Turn to page C3 for their back story.) It is not possible for this boy to be the son of such a prominent witch and wizard._

_Why is it not possible you may ask? It has become quite apparent that his humanity is extremely questionable, as was proven Saturday._

_What else that has become tearfully apparent is that the only reason the vampires were in Hogsmead at all was to fight with Harry Potter._

_Eleven people did not have to die that day. The Minister for Magic himself as expressed explicit interest in this boy and just why a horde of vampires attacked an innocent village because of him. (See page G7 for more information on the negotiation proceedings between the vampire community and the ministry.) Harry Potter is threatening these peace treaties._

_This reporter personally tried to get into the school to question Harry Potter but was turned around by Headmaster Dumbledore quite forcefully telling me to leave and that I was not welcome there._

_So on that note, why is Albus Dumbledore willingly housing a very large threat to the Wizarding Community? The Headmaster as always has been about the safety of the school and its students. But is that safety being compromised now? More importantly, the man seems to except this fact._

_This reporter wants answers, as I'm sure the rest of you out there do too. The only way to get these answers, people, is for Harry Potter to be turned over to Ministry custody. Immediately before it's too late._

o0o

This was complete and utter rubbish! Anyone, absolutely _anyone _who was there that day should know that it was because of Harry that a hundred people didn't die horribly that day! _But then again _Hermione thought even as she hated to admit to herself, she knew firsthand the sheep mentality the majority of the people in the world had. They would believe what was written because that was easy. No one would question it, which would be too difficult a task. To question it would be to throw doubt in the mind about the Minister and the way he ran the Ministry.

Hermione silently seethed at the injustice of it all.

Harry noticed that when Ron and Neville were finished reading the Article that they sparred him a quick glance before looking up at the Headmaster. Who, in all his barmy glory, looked as if it was just like any other ordinary day, nothing special to fret about at all.

Harry shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Today... today was not a good day.

He'd been thinking that a lot lately.

He wasn't surprised that Dumbledore didn't look the least bit frazzled. The man was nigh untouchable, especially when it came to all that political crap. No, Harry didn't have to be worried about the Minister of Magic barging his way into the school and arresting him.

Even he knew there would be repercussions for that. He was grateful; for once actually, that politics and power ruled the world.

What he was worried about was when the Minister does eventually find a way to get a hold of him.

Harry wasn't sure of the man's intentions. He could want to just talk- yes, highly unlikely but still a possibility. He could want to lock him up and cut him open, even higher possibility. Or he could want to find a way to use him, control him so to speak. Harry didn't like the odds of that possibility.

There were just too many variables to consider.

But for the moment he had more pressing issues to worry about.

Like making it through Transfiguration class.

It wasn't actually all that hard to sit through his first class of the day. McGonagall's stern teaching methods kept the students focus solely on their work.

"I will not have silly gossip disrupting my class," she had said once everyone was seated.

No one wanted to cross the aged Deputy Headmistress.

Ever.

His next class, Charms, was filled with tense silence from the students and the high squeaky voice of the professor. Who just happened to pick today of all days to review everything they had learned over the past seven years of learning. So one could see how the class droned on for the next very long hour.

o0o

Lunch came in a flash.

A little too soon for Harry's liking.

Eating was out of the question. No, he did not have anything even remotely close to an appetite at the moment. And more than likely any time soon.

He decided that maybe a walk down to the lake was in order. It was highly doubtful that anybody would be eating outside today. Dark heavy clouds painted the sky richly. Faint thunder rolled in the distance threatening a downpour of merciless rain. Harry loved the smell in the air that promised a downpour. The feeling it induced was one of excitement; any other person would put the feeling down as fear mixed brutally with adrenaline. Not for Harry, every nerve ending and muscle in his body sparked and crackled. The hair on his arms would stand on end with frightening clarity. Harry would get the momentarily same feeling right before he got in a savage fight. Excitement.

He decided at that moment he was definitely going outside. For that moment of pure excitement would set him free.

Even if it was for only a moment.

Harry would have liked to go by himself, wanted to in fact, to muddle over the dark thoughts in his head and have a look at the old book inside his cloak, but it was not to be. For his three ever so faithful sidekicks insisted on tagging along. If any of them caught on to the fact or got the hint that he wanted to be alone none of them commented on it or did anything about it.

They were surprisingly quiet when they followed him out the double door entrance of Hogwarts, something that suited Harry just fine.

Down the steps and towards the lake he went a brooding expression on his face.

A massive gust of wild wind tore through the air, disrupting the previous calm. Harry stopped in the middle of the grassy field towards the lake. The three behind him stopped as well puzzled expressions on their faces.

Harry let the wind wash over him, through him and around him. With it the wind carried the promise of the cleansing rain to come. He took in the smell like a child with his mother's cooking. The hair on his arms stood on end and he closed his eyes, he always did like the rain. When he was still small, a bit after he was bitten, he would stand in the rain, unafraid of the sickness that would often come after a child did so and imagine that the rain was washing away the taint inside of him. He had grown out of such thoughts now but nevertheless his liking for the rain never wavered.

Harry let that excitement run through him for that glorious moment knowing the feeling would pass.

"You alright, mate?" Ron's voice broke through his thoughts and he opened his eyes. They were still standing a bit behind him, knowing not to touch him. Neville having stopped Ron when he reached his hand out the shake the other boy.

"M'fine," Harry mumbled back not bothering to turn around. Instead he just continued to the lake, his original destination.

It didn't take that long to get to the murky cold lake but when they did he easily found a cluster of big rocks and promptly sat down on one.

The silence interrupted only by the waves crashing onto the shore. Harry stared out at the water a thoughtful expression on his face.

"It's not right," Hermione's voice came. He could feel her eyes on him. "What they printed in the paper." She clarified. "They should not have done that too you."

"Please, Hermione," Neville broke in speaking for the first time. "The Prophet isn't known for being nice, or speaking the truth for that matter."

Harry pulled out the book and had started flipping through it, deciding that tonight he would fiddle around and see about the vampire wards.

"They are making him out to be some kind of criminal, Neville!" Hermione's voice raised an octane.

"I don't care about the article, you guys," Harry with his raspy voice interrupted the argument that was sure to commence.

Neville snapped his mouth shut as all three looked at him.

"Let them think what they want. Not much can be done about it anyways." He stated into the book. "Besides I've got bigger fish to fry at the moment."

Tapping the book with his wand, Harry let the translation spell wash over the book. It rippled with a curious pink hue before settling. Harry frowned, okay so he wasn't perfect with the spell. Some sentences were oddly introverted while some words didn't translate at all but one could get the gist of it now.

And the first thing he figured out sent a ripple of shock up his spine.

It was a book of protection.

o0o

Lunch came and went with a shrill bell that told the students they had better hustle to their next class.

Hermione, Ron, and Neville had left him shortly after his statement, hunger winning out. With a short "we'll see you in potions Harry" they were gone, leaving him to his thoughts.

He had found himself fascinated by the contents of the book.

Oh yes, he could have a lot of fun with it.

When the bell rang he dallied his way back into the school. He didn't want to be caught into middle of the mad rush to classrooms.

There were a few stragglers when Harry headed down toward the dungeons but they, like he expected, would give him wide eyed looks or glares in some cases and stand there frozen as he walked past. It was a disquieting walk to Potions.

Once he stepped into the classroom he did a quick sweep. It didn't take a genius to figure out all eyes went straight to him when he walked in. He offered a quirked eyebrow to the room at large and sat down. The table quite thankfully consisted of Neville and Hermione. They offered him small smiles before Professor Snape came swooping in. The class grew silent instantaneous.

No one, absolutely no one talked in Snape's seventh year Potions class.

Harry vaguely zoned out as the Professor gave curt instructions to the potion they were to be brewing.

It was some sort of advanced learning potion. Giving the drinking an uncanny ability to retain information.

It would wear off after 8 hours and then all that information would become a blur of titbits in the brain. So in other words no long term effects. Hermione lightly stated that this potion was invented by a brilliant student back in the day and had used it quite effectively for cheating on exams.

"It's silly really," she continued to work on her potion. "I mean the man was obviously smart, why would he need to cheat?"

Neither Harry nor Neville answered her. It had become a habit in class; Hermione would make light conversation and the two boys would only listen half-heartedly. If only to make the time go by faster.

Harry wasn't all that interested in perfecting his potion.

So it didn't look exactly like Hermione`s but granted it was only a hair width of a shade lighter. Okay so maybe he was exaggerating a bit with that last part.

Snape got up from his desk and was making his rounds to everyone`s cauldron. Being seventh years and all it was a bit of a compliment that the professor only went around once in the duration of the class to check and make sure no one`s potion was going to blow up and harm everyone in the vicinity.

So Harry wasn't all that surprised when he had stopped at his table. His eyes flew over Hermione`s without a second glance.

Neville had the pleasure of being on the receiving end of his oh so glorious glare.

The professor gave a noticeable disdainful look at his potion.

"Potter, stay after class." It was a blunt statement that left no room for questions or comment. Snape simply said it and was on his way back to the front without so much has a glance in his direction.

Harry never realized the sneer on his face as he glared daggers at the man's back.

He didn't much like Severus Snape.

o0o

The class emptied in a rush, which left Harry standing in the center isle book bag swung over one shoulder.

Snape didn't even glance up until the large steel door swung shout with an ominous boom.

With that he raised his eyes to meet Harry's own.

The moment their eyes locked he could feel the teachers presence fill his head and lightly push on his fore front barriers.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the man but none the less lowered the wall.

_I have studied the potion you gave me._

"Your potion was a disgrace," he stated.

Harry's head jerked a little at hearing Snape's voice out load and in his head at the same time.

"Ya, well," Harry said once he got his bearings in a row. "I'm distracted," he stated with a little arrogance in his voice.

_And..? _He urged in his head.

"I will not tolerate that in my class." Snape sneered at him.

_There is one very rare ingredient in it. _

"You read this morning's paper; I think that warrants a little distraction," Harry hit back.

_What of it?_

Harry realised that whatever it was, it was damn important. Snape felt the need for the undercover inside the head conversation to go with the fake voiced one. The man obviously wasn't taking any risks.

"Careful, Potter." He all but hissed at him.

_It's a flower, on the brink of extinction. The only place to find healthy usable ones is at... Riddle manor._

"Careful of what exactly?" he said, hastily adding "Sir" at the spark in his eyes.

_You think the Dark Lord is using this flower to get the vampires to do his bidding?_ he asked in his head a bit sceptically.

"Keep that attitude up and you'll be prancing around like Longbottom."

_You and I both know that the vampires have their own agenda. They were using him, giving him the illusion that he was the one in control._

"Fifty points from Gryffindor, Potter," he snapped. "And next time it happens in my class I won't be so lenient."

_The Dark Lord is not an idiot, Potter, and that makes you the bull's eye on the target._

_Meaning what exactly?_

_Meaning, you fool, that if the Dark Lord gets you... he gets the Vampires._

"Get out of my sight."

o0o

When Harry left the classroom his head was all a buzz.

So the vampires only went to Voldemort to get a flower that is the key ingredient in the potion that lets them wander around in sunlight.

Okay so that made sense. He didn't think that even a vampire would be able to steal a flower for Riddle manor without the Dark Lord noticing. Vampires weren't known for wanting unwanted attention.

He barely registered the fact that Neville and Hermione had waited for him outside the class. He paid them no mind head still buzzing.

So, not being able to steal the cursed flower, the H3 went to Voldermort and struck a deal to get it.

The deal being they would attack Hogwarts and he would give them the flower. Or at least that's what it looked like. But like Snape had said the Vampires have their own agenda, one that he was smack in the middle of. Snape also made a very good point. Voldemort was no fool. He knew the H3 wanted Harry for something, he may not know what but he knew for something. Harry shook his head. He was morbidly grateful that the Dark Lord wanted Neville first before anything.

Harry cringed; not a happy thought but the last thing he needed was a dark wizard after him. He was sure that would come later.

He had Care of Magical Creatures next. He was late so was Neville and Hermione since they had waited for him.

They didn't ask any questions of him realising that it must have had to do with Order stuff. Not something they would willingly talk about so out in the open.

When the three stepped outside they realised that it had started raining.

The clouds darkened the sky. It was only a slightly drizzling rain at the moment but it was fast picking up the pace.

"Great," Neville said. "Now we get to spend the next two hours in the rain."

Hermione offered up a slight smirk while she wrapped her cloak tighter around her body.

Harry's spirits lifted a bit he didn't mind spending time in the rain.

Heads down to the ground they started the long trek to the edge of the forbidden forest where the class was being held. Everyone would already be there and Harry for one wasn't looking forward to the extra attention that would come upon them for being late.

"What is that?" It was Hermione that asked.

Harry and Neville stopped and looked up. They were making their way up a grassy hill when Hermione interrupted. They still had approximately 60 feet to go before they made the forest's perimeter.

A chill that had nothing to do with rain that had now soaked through Harry's clothes ran up his spine.

The wind and rain was harsh and blurred his vision but there was something at the top of the hill. It was a dark glistening shape. Hunched over and staring directly at him.

It took Harry half a second to realize the thing wasn't human.

Nobody had answered Hermione for neither boy knew either. The thing was huge, in the gloom Harry could make out a faint shape of an animal. Dog shaped, but Merlin dogs did not get that big.

The thing got up and slowly started prowling down the hill, right in their direction.

Excitement and fear tingled through his body. Who was it here for? Neville? Or him?

As the creature got closer Harry seen that the thing had no fur like a dog. Instead it had thick leathery skin stretched taut over muscle and bone. Long claws jutted painfully out of its bear sized paws. Saliva dripped like acid out of its jaw running the length of its razor sharp teeth.

It was not 20 feet from him when he looked into its midnight blue eyes. He saw nothing but blood and death and madness in those eyes. Great. Just great. He knew who it was here for now.

Harry's emotions spiked to panic when the thing jumped at him.

o0o

The rain pounded down mercilessly.

Neville hated the rain. Rain was never his friend he deduced as he trekked along a few steps behind Harry and Hermione.

"What is that?" Hermione voice brought him up short. He looked up squinting through the rain.

He couldn't see anything so he took a couple steps forward and then he seen it.

Neville didn't know what the thing was but he wasn't sticking around to find out.

The thing on the top of the hill just reeked of death and destruction. And eating human bones for some reason. A spasm of fear jolted painfully down his spine.

Now, now is about the time to start running.

Neville wasn't a coward, he was brave (or so he believed) but the fear he felt went beyond bravery and courage. It went straight to survival.

_Come on legs let's get going! _He told himself desperately.

His heart pounded heavily in his chest. He couldn't move. Neville was frozen on the spot and his entire body wasn't willing to obey his command.

He didn't like this. Terror on the verge of panic raced hot through his blood.

Hermione was in much the same state. She was maybe five feet from where he himself stood and was almost directly behind Harry.

Neville didn't know what the other boy was thinking and he couldn't glean any emotions from Harry's stiff back.

The huge dog-like creature had stood up on all four legs and was now slowly making its way down the hill right in their direction. Red-hot panic exploded in Neville's head and yet he still couldn't move.

Twenty feet.

The thing had its mad eyes fixed on Harry. Typical, part of Harry thought.

Thirteen feet.

Why wasn't he doing anything?

Ten feet.

A viscous deep throated growl.

Eight feet.

Oh Merlin.

Six Feet.

The thing leaped.

Its massive claws dug into the ground ripping up huge chunks of grass and dirt.

As all four of its muscle bound legs left the ground Neville realised that this was one of those moments in life. You know... one of those moments where the entire world seems to slow down, sound ceased to exist, and time was an inconsequential thing, almost optional.

Harry, it seemed, wasn't about to move and that hideous creature was undoubtedly going to hit him. Dead on.

It didn't take a genius to know that the force of the impact alone was going to send Harry toppling backwards.

Neville had to do something. Anything. But what? Hell, he still couldn't move himself.

It was then that Neville noticed something, a small detail that stopped his heart.

Hermione was still standing behind Harry. She was going to get hurt. The fear for himself disappeared and was replaced with panic for his friend.

Neville found his movement.

The world sprang back into focus with a flurry of movement and sound.

With a strangled yell Neville dove for Hermione just has Harry and that creature connected. He caught her around the middle cutting her scream short and they hit the muddy ground. Neville did his best to cover Hermione as Harry and the dog like thing flew over them.

The sound of crunching bone and ear slitting yell raked over the area.

o0o

The thing pounced with next to no warning. No twitch in the muscles or pause in the steps. It just leaped at him out of nowhere.

Harry, aware of his companions behind him, jumped himself towards the beast, intent on disrupting its initial lunge. He was partly successful as his left foot connected with the creature's maw and snapped it shut for all of 3/10's of a second. The weight of the beast slammed into his leg, causing both of them to land sharply.

Harry recovered and stood up for the next attack. The beast recovered faster and lunged again, this time sharp fangs bit harshly down into skin and the powerful jaw locked down on his right shoulder.

Harry screamed.

His entire body was on fire. Dimly, he felt when his body hit the soggy ground and when the entire weight of the animal slumped down on top of him driving the air from him lungs.

Then as suddenly as the fire engulfed him it was gone.

His vision went white.

All the smells and sounds and feeling left him. There was no sense of anything.

The air around him went foggy with a strange smoky mist. He was standing in the middle of it looking around.

Where was he?

Harry didn't know, and as far as he could see there was nothing but the bloody never-ending fog. He looked down at him hands clenching his fists and unclenching them. His own body felt foreign to him. Yet he didn't feel anything, no emotions, hell he couldn't even form a single thought about what was going on.

This wasn't the oppressive silence just a small quality of peace about it.

But through the silence a short tingling laugh echoed throughout the fog.

Harry turned his head. Where had that come from? It was impossible to tell.

The laugh came again. Darker and louder than before.

A shape was forming in the mist, slowly, ever so slowly coming more corporeal and it was then that Harry knew. Just the simple fact of knowing, what form that shape was going to take.

Katherine Potter stood before him.

She was wearing a simple white gown, hair let loose flowing in unfelt wind.

Merlin if Harry didn't know any better she almost looked... normal.

It was her face that gave her away. Her violet eyes that knew nothing but evil.

She was looking at him, hint of a smile ghosting around her lips.

"Harry Potter."

It was a soft whisper. A simple statement, nothing more.

Harry's jaw was locked; he couldn't find his voice so he opted to glare at the flawless women.

"I see my pup found you." A threatening smile. It was times like these that Harry really wished he could choose his ancestors.

"What do you want?" Harry was surprised by the how uncaring his own voice sounded in his ears.

"I come to you" she replied looking him right in the eyes. "With a message and nothing more... for now." She smirked as she took a step closer.

She started to circle him and Harry had to fight the sickness in his stomach of having his back turned to her.

"Well," her godforsaken laugh really grated on his nerves, "less a message and more a choice. You see, Harry Potter, as you have, hopefully, figured out by now we have use for the_ Dayshadow, _but that use just does us no good with you holed up in a school now does it?" She had come back around to face him again.

Harry bared his teeth at her.

"Charming." She sneered at him. "But let's face it shall we. I know you, dear boy. And I know you want answers. Answers about what we did to you. So I give you a choice; meet with me where it all started or suffer the consequences." she finished looking at him through her dark eyelashes.

Harry blinked at her and smiled.

"Well that… uh… that's some choice you're giving me." He quirked an eyebrow at her. "But really, how stupid do you think I am?"

Katherine crossed her arms about her chest but her stare didn't waver.

"What makes you think I'm just going to waltz right into what's obviously a trap?" Harry looked back at her and was shaken when her laugh burst through the mist.

"Oh you foolish boy!" she was smiling again. "Now really you must think we are that stupid."

Her hand flashed out and roughly backhanded him across the face sending him tumbling sideways a couple steps.

"Listen closely, Harry Potter!" She grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him close her other hand snaking around his throat. "My Hound didn't set off those silly little wards and neither will we! Of that you can be certain. Meet with me in the flesh or we will come. And come we shall in numbers." She hissed in his ears. "I _do not _want to have to come there in person but I will."

Harry let out a choke. His air supply was cut off and his head was reeling.

"Oh yes, people will die if you force my hand. It puts me in a horrible mood, Harry Potter, and above all you do not want to see me lose my temper." Her eyes flashed red face twisted in anger.

Harry grabbed at her cold arm. Her cold and incredibly strong arm.

"The choice is yours, Dayshadow. Come to me, tonight or for every night you do not show I will send a present for you. Would you like that, Harry Potter? I've been told my presents are quiet _lavish_." She pushed him away suddenly and with such force that he was lifted up off his feet.

He came crashing down back with a resounding crack into his body a massive leathery shaped on top of him.

He gasped for air with a soft sigh whispering through his head.

_Where it all started._

o0o

"You okay?" Neville yelled at Hermione through the roaring sounds of the storm.

She nodded at him wide eyed as they scrambled to their feet.

Neville whipped around searching for Harry.

The rain had intensified and was so thick it was hard to see your hand in front of you face let alone anything else. He gripped Hermione's hand just as hard as she was holding his.

"_Harry!"_

She sudden scream of his name and he was suddenly pulled along after her. She had spotted something.

And then Neville could see it.

There was a dark shadow in front of them rolling and jerking in sudden directions.

Neville planted his feet and kept a firm grip on Hermione's hand.

"Hermione, stop!" he yelled. She looked and him and seen the pure terror in her eyes and knew the same emotion was reflected in his eyes.

The rain was letting up and the thunder began diminishing.

Neville and Hermione could see Harry and the massive dog like thing rolling around on the sodden ground. They had to do something. Hermione was obviously thinking the same thing for she had already whipped out her wand and was taking aim.

"Reducto!" she yelled.

Her aim was true. The red spell hit the thing dead center on its back but the triumphant feeling was soon replaced by dread. The spell hit but was soaked into the skin like water with no effect.

All the spell did was get the thing's attention. It let out an ear splitting bark and turned in their direction.

Hermione's grip on his arm tightened almost painfully. Neville didn't notice or simply didn't care. The thing looked at them letting out a slow deep threatening growl and took a step towards them.

Harry, now free of the heavy burden resting on him, took the opportunity given him and got back to his feet. With his one good arm, he started rummaging through the sack on his back. He kept his eyes straight on the creature stalking towards Neville and Hermione.

His left hand found what it was looking for and moments later he pulled a vial out that was as long as his hand, and only a few inches wide. Inside was something long and grey that came to a sharp point. Harry broke the seal on the vial and pulled out what to Neville appeared to be a railroad spike.

"C'mon, you great big ugly mutt! I'm over here!" Harry yelled to get the thing's attention.

It turned back towards him and almost seemed to grin as it changed direction to attack its original prey once again. Harry swiped the air defensively in front of them with the railroad spike.

The mutant dog didn't seem to care about that as it continued to advance, dodging the thrusts. Then using a tried and true method, it leaped towards Harry yet again.

Harry in turn dodged the leap and countered with a spin move of his own. He pivoted and went down to the ground right next to where he figured the beast would land. And land it did, its head turning towards where Harry was.

He didn't waste any time and quickly whipped the spike down towards the dog's right rear foot, impaling it and attaching it to the ground. Harry then jumped back before the dog could go after him.

"Don't like that much, now do ya, ya mangy mutt!" Harry yelled at the trapped animal.

The mangy mutt must not have heard something he liked for he lunged at Harry again, only to be held back by its unmoving, attached foot.

The dog then let out a monstrous yell and displaying more logic than Harry suspected, looked around itself and with one big jaw-snapping move, severed its trapped leg from the rest of its body.

"Oh crap," Harry muttered.

Worse yet, it now appeared to be going for a weaker member of the group instead of an alpha male.

Namely, it was headed for Hermione again.

"Hey!"

Harry's yell was enough to get back its sinful attention.

It looked back at him just in time for Harry's other boot to connect with its face.

Neville didn't even see that coming.

The thing went sprawling with a yelp. Its head snapped back with a crack and it rolled and tumbled till it stopped ten feet away.

Harry groaned and doubled over a bit limping as he put pressure on his leg.

Neville would later realise the amount of power it would take to send and animal that size flying with one physical kick.

They ran to Harry. He was now scrambling looking for something in his cloak.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here!" Neville yelled at Harry but he paid them no heed. He had pulled out a book.

Neville was bemused. He didn't know what that book was but really was now the time?

"_Neville!" _Hermione hissed at him frantically tugging on his arm.

Neville looked.

That dog was getting back up again. Shaking its massive head. It may have only had three legs now, but it certainly looked like it wanted to kill them even more than before.

"Harry," Neville said a distinct quiver in his voice. His throat went dry.

"I know," was his mumble. He was rapidly turning pages in the book looking for something.

The dog spotted them once again and Merlin if it didn't look angry.

It growled deep again and charged at them.

"_Harry!" _Hermione yelled not taking her eyes off the rabid animal.

"_I know!" _he yelled back.

He must have found what he was looking for because he looked up then.

With the book in his left hand he thrust with his right and pushed Neville and Hermione away from him. The force of the blow sent them both tumbling away and left the brown haired boy winded.

His left hand shot out holding the book open and in between him and the dog.

"_Visvegre!_" Harry said it harshly, full of haste.

The result was _grounding._

A great massive blue shock wave ripped out from the open book outstretched in his hand.

The shock wave hit the animal mid leap.

A sonic boom rocked through the air.

A crippling whine of a dying animal whose death came entirely by surprise.

Harry was ripped off his feet and sent painfully backwards.

o0o

"_Harry!"_

His face crinkled as he tried to open his eyes, which was no easy feat for the rain was pounding down on it. His entire body tingled and his ears buzzed at him.

The situation caught up to him and he sprang to his feet. He regretted it for a moment; he stumbled a bit before he found his balance. A deep cough wracked though is throat. The pounding in his head increased.

"Protection my ass," he mumbled to himself.

Merlin, that power…

Ancient power, it felt old. He could still feel it, and it sent a brief zap of fear through him. He had felt it pulling roughly at something inside him. His magic, the power fed on it mercilessly.

Hermione and Neville stood on either side of him, soaked with rain. They both shared the same expression of fear and amazement.

Harry swept his eyes across the terrain.

Where had the mutt gone? Had he killed it?

It was nowhere to be seen.

"You guys alright?" he was surprised by the hint of humour in his voice.

Hermione gave a shaky nod.

"Yeah, think so," Neville stated in a low voice. "What the hell was that?"

"Hell-hound," Hermione whispered, fear tainting her voice.

Deaths dogs.

"Three guesses to who sent it," Harry stated still looking across the area.

Hysteria bubbled up into his brain. Katherine had trained a god-forsaken hell-hound. _Trained a hell-hound_. Trained like some house pet.

Harry had to squash the feeling; it was not the time or place for that matter. To distract himself, he focussed on slowing his heart rate down and that was when he became aware of the dull ache in his arm. The immense rip down his arm was bleeding profusely, the blood a faded red from the water. He tore of his cloak with no hesitation.

Wow, to think the dog's bite was a lot worse than his bark.

As is his arm looked horrible. Great bite marks marred his shoulder and claw marks ran from the back of his arm all the way down to the front of his hand.

The cuts were deep.

Hermione gasped.

"You need to go to the Hospital Wing!" Neville stated, face pale.

Harry took his eyes off the massive wound and let his eyes wander one last time across the surrounding area as Hermione gently grabbed his uninjured arm and steered him in the direction of the school.

Harry looked back at the carnage. The only thing left showing the fight was the still trapped (and severed) leg of the damn dog. Stuck in the ground by a cold iron spike that Harry had mined himself three years ago.

o0o

"_A Hell-Hound?" _Sirius asked once again as paced back and forth in the hospital bed.

Harry was sitting up in one of the beds while Madam Pomphery tended to him. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin and Snape were there as well standing and listening while Hermione and Neville recounted the events just passed.

Harry had yet to say a word.

"It's impossible," Professor McGonagall stated. "Hell-hounds have been dormant for centuries!"

"Well doesn't change the fact that one was here now," Snape's silky voice stated.

"What I don't understand is why the wards didn't pick up on it," Remus asked looking towards the Headmaster.

"That, I'm afraid," the headmaster sighed, "is highly worrying."

Sirius stopped pacing and gave the Headmaster a bemused look, as did mostly everyone before looking back at Harry.

"You sure you're alright?" he asked yet again.

Harry took a deep breath and simply nodded his head yet again content to watch the healer as she meticulously cleaned up the deep wounds.

He had yet to look up and meet anyone's eyes.

Truth was he wasn't afraid of what he was going to do. _He wanted to. _He wanted to go meet Katherine Potter and more than anything he wanted to scar up her pretty little face. That want sent a new fire burning through his veins.

Vengeance had a way of blinding the eyes with red.

He was going to place where it all began. Where this whole thing started and he wasn't going down without a fight. If he could help it, he was taking Katherine Potter with him.

But the simple fact was here and now in the hospital wing, he was sitting here avoiding everyone's eyes. And he damn well knew why.

He was afraid.

Afraid to look up and meet his godfathers gaze and the truth in his eyes would scream out at the man.

"Remus, would you kindly escort Mr. Longbottom and Miss Granger back to their common room? They need the rest." Harry dimly heard Dumbledore's voice and barely registered when they left.

"Was there anything else you would like to add Mr. Potter?" he inquired.

Madam Pomphrey just finished putting the bandage on his shoulder so Harry Jumped up and turned his back on the room at large and grabbed his shirt.

"No sir," he replied, his voice rough and cracked.

There was a small pause as he through his shirt back on over his head.

A small sigh. "Well I'll leave you to it then Mr. Potter," Dumbledore replied and he heard them move to the exit all except one.

Harry kept his back to the man behind him hands on the counter hunched over.

"Harry," Sirius started voice soft. "What is it?"

Harry squeezed his eyes shut he did not want to have this conversation.

"It's nothing." He opted to reply turning around and grabbing his cloak off the bed.

"Nothing my ass, Harry," Sirius said voice rising with worry.

Harry went to brush past him but Sirius stopped him by putting a hand on his arm.

Harry looked down at the offending hand but didn't say anything.

"I don't know what exactly is going on right now Harry and quite frankly I don't think I want to know."

At that Harry looked up surprised by that comment. He met the older man's gaze and couldn't place the look on his face.

"Your..." Sirius coughed and cleared his throat. "I can't understand the world you live in, Harry, but what I do understand is that I don't want to lose you. Not yet."

Harry's heart stopped for a moment before he ripped his arm loose from his grip suddenly angry.

"You," Harry started walking a few paces away before facing him again. "You don't even know me!" he yelled glaring at his godfather. "And you're right you don't understand my world so stop trying!"

"No."

The blunt statement brought Harry up short.

"What?"

"I said no. I'm not going to stop trying and I'm not giving up," Sirius said taking a step closer.

"Why?" Harry asked he was truly confused. Why did this man have to keep trying? Merlin knew Harry wasn't offering him much of a chance. He didn't want him to try, not now because he knew if Sirius wanted him to stay asked him Harry would have a hard time trying to leave.

Sirius sighed and offered him a sad smile.

"Look," Harry started again. "I know what you're trying to do but please don't just don't." He ran a hand through his damp hair making it stick up at odd angles.

"I'm not trying to do anything Harry." Sirius said, "I know you're not going to tell me what is going on and I'm not going to make you but I want you to promise me something Harry."

Harry could have yelled and screamed and threw a tantrum at those words but he didn't. He couldn't and he wouldn't.

For all the promises Harry could make to anybody he knew this was the one man he couldn't break a promise for.

"Just..." Sirius started again after he realised Harry wasn't going to offer any more words. "Just come back alive, whatever it is come back alive."

One heart-stopping moment as they stared at each other before Harry opened his mouth to speak in that dry cracked voice of his.

"I promise."

o0o

Well there ya have it! I will try my darndest to get the next chapter out as soon as possible!

And please Review! It's always nice to hear what you guys thought!


	17. A Fight or Flight Situation

Undead Secrets

A/N: Hey all! Sorry this took so long had a bad case of the writers block. Thankfully my wonderous Beta Steve2 helped out and we were able to continue :)

Hope you guys like it :)

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Chapter 17 A Fight or Flight Situation

Harry stared around the room and sighed.

What was he doing?

Even he knew what he was about to do was so fundamentally reckless it was likely to be classified as the world's most idiotic plan. He smiled slightly at that, recalling Mac's favourite expression: "idiocy is my middle name, kid. Yours too."

Yes, that sounded about right. Why? Why because he had no plan to be honest. Nope, no plan. Nada. So far all he had was to go back to that godforsaken alley... and then nothing. He was drawing a blank and he knew it. Damn it all, what he should be doing is going for, dare he say it, help. But for some reason he wasn't. Gods but he didn't want to bring anyone else into his screwed up life.

The dormitory was empty. Everyone in class and Harry figured what better to time to get out of this school then when everyone else was preoccupied.

He went to his trunk. Running his finger over the gold encrusted name H. Potter he blinked and realised that Harry Potter was no more.

Harry Potter was the kid nobody knew, the kid no one cared to know. But now he was being pegged as the Dayshadow, a freak and an abomination. His anonymity at Hogwarts was gone, blown out the window. He snorted; it was a long time coming he supposed.

He opened his trunk and started pulling out various things.

He quickly changed his clothes. He pulled off his robes donned his jeans, black beater and his trusty dragon hide boots. He strapped his wand and his dagger in their perspective holsters and a wooden stake to his ankle. His empty holder for the iron spike he left behind. Snape still hadn't returned his spike, the bastard.

It was the best he could do. Once he got to one of his safe houses he would have access to his arsenal. He didn't bring anymore weapons than what he already had on him to the school. Regardless of what he told people, damn it, he felt at home in this place of all places. For one thing, he didn't have to do his own laundry.

He shook out his worn leather jacket and slipped it on. As he turned he popped the collar and froze.

In hindsight he really should have expected this.

Neville, Ron, and Hermione were standing in the doorway, blocking his exit.

o0o

Kelly Morgan was bored

Well, given the fact that the sun was out she had reason to be bored. She didn't have a lot to do in the daytime. Not since she'd dropped out of school two years ago.

The shady motel room TV had crappy reception and after thoroughly beating the piss out of the stupid useless thing she deduced that she wasn't going to get a better picture. Not that there was much to watch on the BBC anyway. Other than Red Dwarf. That show was funny. When it was on.

Which wasn't now. Stupid useless thing.

Currently she was sitting cross legged on the bed, head bobbing to music blasting into her ears from her Discman. She was flipping through some books and paper and notes. She didn't exactly know what she was looking for but look she did nonetheless. Damn boredom.

Well she wasn't exactly looking. She idly flipped the pages in the book that was sitting in her lap too busy listening to the music blasting in her ears.

Just when one of her favourite songs came on... the darn thing winked out and died.

Morgan blinked at it, shook it, held the on button for about twenty seconds too long and when nothing happened she took a deep calming breathe.

Not that the deep calming breath did anything for her though. She ripped out the now silent headphones and chucked the player across the room with a muffled yelled.

It smashed into the opposite wall with a clatter and fell to the orange carpet.

She sighed and bit into her thumbnail.

Still staring at the busted music player she inexplicably felt tears spring to her eyes and the burn in the back of her throat. Her head fell into her hands and she rubbed roughly at her face.

Ever since coming to this godforsaken county she had this gut wrenching feeling deep in her soul.

Something was going to happen, and soon.

Something bad.

It was a deep seated feeling that she couldn't place and for the life of her she couldn't place it.

And it scared her.

And if there was one thing Kelly Morgan didn't do, it was scared.

With a burst of motion she got up. She was going to go for a walk. Walks were supposed to be therapeutic or some crap. Or so she'd heard anyways.

She grabbed her trusty jacket, threw it on and walked out the door like she was on a mission. When really, she just needed a distraction. A Kelly Morgan left alone to her thoughts was a very grumpy Kelly Morgan.

Just turning the corner of the motel she felt her pocket vibrate.

She pulled out her phone curiously wondering what it was that Mac could want.

Hmmm, two new messages.

Well that's interesting.

In no time she was into her voicemail account and waiting for the stupid lady voice to stop telling her had had two new messages.

Like really, she knew that lady!

Punching the one button and an unfamiliar voice rang in her ear. She stopped dead in her tracks when she listened to the message.

"_Hey, uh, Morgan," _a rough voice cleared his throat. _"This is Sirius. Listen it's, uhh, Harry. He's leaving… where? I couldn't tell you but it's big and he's going alone. I just... if you could call me back."_

The message ended and before she could even think about it Mac's deep baritone cut in.

"_Hey you insufferable slayer. Got a scrying on a hellhound. You're never going to guess where."_

_End of Messages for more options please press...._

She shut the phone with a click.

o0o

A long silence filled the dormitory.

Harry stared at them.

They stared back.

Harry was used to not saying something first. Or even second.

The other party not sure what to say.

It was finally broken by Neville.

"We can help." It was a whisper.

Harry stared at the boy with a slightly tilted head.

"No, you can't," he said but continued before they could say anything. "You may think you can, but you can't."

"Merlin, Harry...." Ron started but was interrupted by Hermione.

"Stop, Harry! Just stop it," she stated, cheeks turning pink. "Why are you so bound and determined to be this… lone fighter? God, we are not useless and we can fight"

"I know you can fight. I've even seen where you've fought."

Ron asked, "What do you mean?"

"At the end of our first year, Neville fought Voldemort, or so the rumours went. I checked it out since it was a potential threat. I went into the Cerberus' lair, down the chute, got past the plant and keys, and stopped by the chessboard. I wasn't that good at chess so turned back. You made it further. I know you can fight, you've proven it."

"You've just acknowledged we can help you, Harry. We know what we're doing…" Hermione started.

"Oh what do you know about it?" Harry snapped. "Look I get it you want to help but you can't!" he stressed the word. "You three are good at fighting dark wizards, but you don't even know the basics about fighting vampires let alone these three."

"And you do?" It was Ron. "Last time you came against these three vampires you froze up."

"Shut up, Ron," Harry bit back. "You don't know anything about that."

"No, Harry," It was Hermione. "Ron's right, you can't do this alone, you need us."

Harry growled and ran a hand through his hair. This was all so pointless, he needed to leave. He wasn't about to drag these three along with him. Sure he got that their intentions were good but at the same time he wasn't running off to go fight Deatheaters. This was an up close and personal fight; magic wasn't about to save him and these three relied on their magic to help them out in a pinch. They didn't know the first thing about hand-to-hand combat.

"Look," Harry sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I get it, I really do but this is not a fight you can win. I don't want to sound conceited about this but I'm the only one that has even a chance against these vampires; you don't. So don't ask me to take you with me." He stopped there but there was still that unsaid word hanging in the air. _Please_.

Hermione's face turned a shade to match that of Ron's and Harry had an inkling that they weren't about to let this go but surprisingly he got a hand from an unexpected source. It was Neville, who up until now stayed strangely silent.

"Guys, let it go." His voice was low, his head hung, arms crossed over his chest as he adamantly stared at the carpet.

"Neville?"

"He's right you know," he said looking up at Hermione. "This isn't our fight. We've got enough to deal with right now. Besides," he shrugged and looked over at Harry as he stared back. "If Harry says he can handle it then I believe him."

Harry felt a small smile tug at his lips as he stared at the brown haired boy. Well would you look at that, something he said must have gotten through to the boy.

"Thanks, Neville," was all he said before he walked past him.

o0o

"Neville!" Hermione hissed at him when the door shut.

Neville sighed there was even a moment of silence as soon as Harry walked out that door Hermione and Ron rounded on him even before the click of the door shutting.

"You just let him leave?" Ron asked slight bemused expression on his face, kind of like he wasn't all that sure what just happened.

Neville stayed silent for a moment, hands stuffed into his jeans pockets as he continued to stare at the door. He wasn't entirely sure how to explain it, and he knew that these two wouldn't entirely understand anyway.

"I saw him fight," he finally settled with. "Down in Hogsmead, I saw what he was capable of. To be honest guys we couldn't even hope to be at his skill level in a hundred years." He smiled a wistful sort of smile and turned and went to his bed.

"Neville! That doesn't mean he can't die!" Hermione shouted, her voice betraying the fear she felt for Harry.

"This is true," he conceded as he flopped on his bed, put his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. "I know he's not invincible Hermione, but I think what you're not getting is that neither are we."

There was a long pause as the three companions sat in an oppressive silence.

Neville thought over what Harry had said to him and right now couldn't help but agree. These past couple of years he'd been willing to rush head first into things without a second thought and damn it all he was lucky to be alive today. Sure he still had that damn prophecy hanging over his head at every waking moment but maybe Harry was correct. He still had the right to live and he was going to make the most of it.

He could understand it was different for Harry. Different circumstances and all that. But what he got from Harry was that he did make the most of it. When he was here at Hogwarts he was the normal, albeit a strange boy that no one talked to but still, Hogwarts was Harry's place to just live.

Out there in the world for Harry, it wasn't living; it was surviving. It made Neville feel a pang of overwhelming sadness for the boy.

It was also Harry's life and he didn't chose for it to turn out the way it did but it did nonetheless and Neville marvelled at the fact that Harry took everything in stride and accepted that. Maybe it was Neville's turn to take a leaf out of his book.

"We've been really lucky these past couple years Hermione," Neville finally broke the silence. "Let's not test that luck out on something that we are not a part of. Let's help Harry out in a different arena and get rid of Voldemort and that sun block potion."

o0o

Harry made it out onto the grounds without further interruption.

As Harry pushed the creaky front gates open and slipped past the opening, he noticed something.

There was someone leaning against the other gate door, hands stuffed deep into the front jackets of her coat one foot up and braced against the gate.

It was Morgan, Harry almost groaned.

"Ray," was all she said in greeting, flicking her smoke away.

"What are you doing here?" there was no surprise in his voice.

"What's the plan?" she fired back, pushing herself off the gates.

"What do you mean 'what's the plan?' There is no plan." Harry snapped back, he wasn't about to drag Morgan into this. The H3 were too dangerous. They were too dangerous even for him.

She grinned. Harry didn't reply he didn't have to as she continued before he could.

"Of course there's a plan. You got that I got a plan look." Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "Alright fine. Mac called me. Wanna know what it was about? Of course you do. He told me he got a reading on a Hellhound. And guess where the signals lead him to? Yup, here.

"So I figured well that can't be right, Hellhounds never leave their little haunts. Unless…" she raised her finger with a spark in her eye. "Unless some crazy fool out there tried to train a hound. Then I thought well who in the world would be crazy enough to try that? Then it struck me. This thing was here, at your school. Well now that only leaves one answer." She smirked. "So I'll ask again what's the plan?"

"Morgan." Harry growled walking past her. "You're not part of the plan."

"Hello!" she yelled catching up to him. "This is big. I'm always part of the big plans." It was almost a pout. Almost

"Not this one," Harry bit back. "Look," he stopped and faced her "I can't let you come. They will kill you! You understand?"

Morgan looked up at him, grin wiped off and a sudden serious expression on her face.

"Don't you think I know that!" she yelled back pushing him in the chest forcing him a couple steps back. "I live with that every day of my life, Ray! I know you do too. So what? They could kill you too!"

Harry, eyes downcast, couldn't find anything to say surprised by her outburst. I'm not so sure they want to kill me, he almost said.

"Look," she started again voice softer. "This is what we do Ray, whether by some freaky experiment or some higher calling. This is what we do. We kill vampires and all the other crap. Say what you want, but I'm going. Besides, you need me," she finished with a sad smile on her face.

Harry looked at her and couldn't help but smile back.

"Nice pep talk, May." He laughed at the disgruntled look that passed over her face.

Morgan Laughed back, punching him on the arm.

"Shut up," she smiled.

"Seriously, you been working on that?" Harry smirked.

"Hey! Well..." she blustered for a comeback. " Well... it worked didn' it!?" a bright smile on her face.

Harry smiled back.

"If you're going to do this... we do this together. Besides", she smiled that crooked grin of hers. "You need the backup." A playful punch to the shoulder made him grin_. _

"We're going to need weapons."

With that Harry grabbed her arm just above her elbow and apparated away.

It would be a long time before he questioned just how exactly Morgan got there in the first place.

o0o

The silence was only broken by the hurried scattered sounds of shuffling and faint clinking.

"What're these, Ray?"

Harry looked over to her holding a bag of metallic marbles. "Oh, I forgot about these." He pulled one out of the canvass bag. It was wrapped in foam to keep it from banging into other marbles in the bag. The part visible was black and metallic, about the size of a large marble. "Mac made it for me a couple years ago. Compressed magnesium."

"Sounds like you could have fun with it."

"Meh. It's a big of overkill but the biggest problem was the time delay Mac built into it. It was practical. Sure I got out of harm's way, but so did the vamps."

"Fuse delay?"  
"Yup."

"Why don't you make it voice activated?"

Harry looked at her with wide eyes. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"You're a wizard, right? So mumbo jumbo something up already."

Harry waved his wand and a quick spell later the marble was primed.

"What the activation word?" Morgan said.

"Phrase. Here," Harry wrote it on a piece of paper. "First time said means instant activation."

Morgan read it and laughed. "I love it."

They pair rushed to finish packing as many weapons and things they might need into a duffle as fast as they could.

It was sundown.

Harry only had a short time before he was to meet Katherine and he really, _really_ didn't want to be late.

Morgan zipped up the bag and threw it over her shoulder. Quickly throwing her hair back up in its usual ponytail, she met Harry's eyes.

"Ready?" was all he asked.

She gave a jerk of her head as a nod. She was ready to leave sure. Ready to face what was to come? Well that was a whole new matter. But she made herself. She wasn't about to leave Ray to his fate not now at any rate. It was easy for her to understand the basic need he needed to face these vampires but she was worried. Worried about what he was going to do. He could very well be about to explode for all she knew. A ticking time bomb. These vampires are the reason he is the way he is, the reason he is what he so desperately doesn't want to be. And to be about to face that reason up close and so very personal, well like that dumb saying if she were in his shoes.

She didn't tell him about the call to Sirius. She wasn't planning on it either. He didn't need to be thinking about that part of his life right now and to be frank it was a part that would never fully be anything else then a close acquaintance. Sirius understood that and that was why he came to her for help. He couldn't do anything but he did the next best thing by telling her his suspicions.

She wouldn't lie and say she was okay with everything. No she wasn't and when she thought too long about it, yes that ugly green monster reared its great head and forced the frustrated feeling on her. Ray had someone out there, someone unconditional and so very trusting and willing to do unspeakable things for him.

God it made her miss the normal life. The hugs her mother would give her.

She even remembered Thomas Doomas, her last boyfriend. She had been a slayer for just over a year when she met this great guy. They go along. He made her laugh. Then he had to play macho and tail her on a vamp raid and got turned for his troubles. She'd had to stake him, a feeling she hadn't wanted to remember ever again. Not to do that to someone she cared about.

She'd like to think she had a stable person in Ray but she couldn't fool herself for long. Her and Ray weren't close by any means. Sure they had the whole close companion thing going on but they weren't great friends – they were great fighters. They could read each other when in a fight but when it came down to it, they couldn't have what everyone else had.

She shook her head and tied her hair back up in a tight ponytail.

Looking back up at Ray, he reached for her hand and she braced herself for that horrible feeling of apparition.

They were gone with the sharp sound of the crack of a whip leaving the room ringing in silence.

Empty.

o0o

They landed in a dark street. Barren and quiet.

The houses and buildings on the street were dark, empty, and decrepit. Roadside lights burnt out, all but one that blinked rapidly and buzzed with such noise in the quiet. The street looked like a dump. Wherever Morgan was, the place had a run down, old feeling.

Harry did a quick survey. There was nothing,_ nothing_ in their immediate surroundings.

His eyes landed at the opening of an alleyway just ten steps to his front. It was swallowed up in the dark; one could almost walk right by and not know there was a back alley there. But Harry knew it was there, knew it and despised it. For this was the same alley he had ran down when he was a child, hiding. Only to be attacked. No, Harry never in a million years thought he would take that particular walk again.

He wasn't looking forward to it.

"What're you thinking Ray?" whispered his partner. Morgan stood, body facing him but she too was staring down in the direction he was.

Continuing to stare to his destination he addressed the unobtrusive slayer beside him.

"Take to the roofs, Morgan. I'll walk in alone. Jump down when it gets too hot."

A simple nod from her and she trotted silently across the street. When she reached the nearest building she nimbly started climbing up using anything and everything to make her way to the roof.

Harry closed his eyes and breathed in deeply through his nose. This was it; there was no turning back now.

He shook himself and berated his morose thoughts. No, if they wanted him, they got him.

They made him this way and he was going to show them exceedingly just what they made.

Opening his eyes he made his way towards the alley without a second thought. They weren't down there, not yet. His heart pumped just a little faster with ever step he took.

He entered the opening of the alley and took a good fifteen steps into it.

That was when he stopped.

That was when he waited.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Closing his eyes he concentrated with all of his senses. The smell, the feel, the taste of the dusty air and most importantly the sound.

There was no sound. It was dead quiet other than a few oofs and poofs from the building down the street. The tenants in the buildings were quiet. Harry hoped they were sleeping and didn't do a foolish thing like invite a vamp inside to get out of the cold.

The small rush of a shiver ran up his spine.

A warm breeze of wind flowed down around him.

_There._

Harry grabbed his knife and whipped around letting it go in the blink of an eye.

The sliver glint of the dagger flew through the night. A half a second later it came to an abrupt halt.

Long pale fingers closed around the hilt. An arm bent at an odd angle. The blade had stopped inches from the heart.

Harry's eyes travelled up the arms to the white smirking face of Edmund Crowfield. The tips of two fangs were just noticeable in the pale light.

"Nice try," he whispered at Harry. A whisper it was but it carried through the stillness of the night nonetheless.

Harry clenched his jaw, ready for what was to come.

Edmund slowly lowered his arms, eyes never leaving Harry's own.

"Ah, Harry," It was a new voice. The illustrious voice of Katherine Potter.

The click-clack of her heels on the cobblestones echoed down the alley. She walked up stopping beside her companion. Running her hand down Edmund's arms, she came to a stop at his hand and took the dagger still clenched there.

"So good of you to join us." She smiled looking back at Harry.

Harry stayed silent. Hundreds of possibilities of how this could end ran through his head. Clenching his fists, Harry steeled himself for the inevitable fight.

He looked Katherine Potter dead straight in her violet eyes.

In that instant her smile grew wider and his vision fussed around the edges. He could feel her almost instantly pushing.

He braced his feet and slammed every mental defence he could think of at her.

Still she smiled.

Handing his dagger back to the waiting hand of Edmund she took slow deliberate steps closer to Harry.

"You shouldn't fight it." Her voice rang sweet whispers through his mind. Flowers. Nice. Let me in.

Still Harry kept his wall in place.

He wasn't about to budge. Even as she moved closer, ever so closer to him, as if her physical presence aided her mental one.

Harry thought this quite accurate, for with every step she took the pressure on his mind doubled in magnitude.

"I could make all this go away Harry." She was speaking in his mind.

She stopped right in front of him now, head tilted to the side, eyes sparkling.

"No," Harry managed between clenched teeth. His voice wasn't strong and his clenched hands at his side were starting to shake.

Katherine straightened out then, never breaking eye contact. Chin dipped down, a vicious glare deformed her flawless features.

"Do not fight me, Harry. You'll only make this harder on yourself."

A sudden snap filled his head and a deep hollow crack ran up his defence.

His vision went completely fuzzy until Katherine's face was nothing but a blur.

"You see I don't really want to hurt you Harry, but I will if you force my hand."

Harry held tight as she continued her assault on his mind. He was going to let up and he wasn't going to let her in.

"I need you, Harry."

Her voice kept whispering through his mind but he was only listening with half an ear. His concentration solely on keeping her out.

"I know you don't think we made you what you are just to see what would happen, and you're right, we didn't." Her soft voice was getting louder, angrier.

"So just let me in, _Harry_! And I can show you a new way of living!"

Another great crack ran up his defences.

She was slipping through fast and slick.

Harry reacted and did the thing he should have done in the first place.

He did what he does best.

He went on the offence and pushed back.

His wall came down in a rain of rocks and rubble.

o0o

When the dust cleared he was standing in large meadow.

Harry stumbled and took a few much needed breathes before looking around. The grass was knee high and yellowed. The sky clear; amazingly blue. The sun shined down warm and tingly. A soft cool breeze rustled the tall grass.

Harry frowned. What the hell just happened? He didn't die he knew that much. This wasn't exactly his idea of Heaven... or Hell for that matter.

A tinkling, musical laugh broke through the silence and Harry spun in the direction it came from.

He saw a large ancient looking tree in the middle of the meadow type field he was standing in.

The tree was alive, lush healthy green leaves bloomed out of every possible growing point on the wide reaching branches.

Just then another laugh echoed across the field, this time deep and baritone. Harry didn't have time to puzzle where exactly the sounds were coming from. Somebody came running from the other side of the giant tree trunk.

It was a girl, Harry realised dressed in one of those old fashioned peasant-like dresses, her dark hair was pinned back and curled tightly. Her tinkling laughed let loose again and her head turned to face Harry as she ran forward again.

The woman's face was young, quite plain, cheeks flushed with happiness, eyes dancing with mirth.

With a startled yell Harry stumbled back.

It was her. Katherine Potter.

The vampire didn't break into Harry's mind, he broke into _hers_.

The light golden hue of the memory darkened at a rapid pace. Lightning suddenly bloomed across the sky, thunder cracked drowning out all else. The vision of Katherine blinked out with the flash of lightning and when Harry looked up he saw, that along with the flash, the tree was dead. A massive ensemble of dried, cracked and blackened wood.

Another flash.

A harbour. Ships with sails on them. A young woman and two young men embracing in friendship. One horse waiting at the docks, three more loaded with packs and cargo, two more brought riding horses brought down on a ramp from the ship. The three mount up and the shorter man took the reins of the three pack animals and started the group away from the ships, moving toward the rest of the city.

Another flash.

A forest. Mountains around them. A valley. The trio still on horseback. Dirtier. They've been moving for days if not weeks. Snow on the peaks. They have their cloaks around them. Summer or early fall. It is growing twilight. They stop.

"This would be so much easier and faster if we could use our carpets to fly," groused the taller man.

"True," agreed the woman. "But you know we are obligated to keep the statute of secrecy. We swore an oath upon graduation. So no magic unless absolutely necessary while travelling the non magical lands."

"Look at it this way, Edmund," the shorter man said while putting a feedbag on his horse. "We haven't spent this much time together since Hogwarts three years ago. We'll be near a magical village in another week, then two more after that and we'll be in Venice. We'll sail home from there."

"I still say we should have sailed there to begin with," Edmund complained while using his wand to start a campfire.

"Edmund! Not before I've checked the area for non-magicals!" Katherine admonished.

"So we good?"

"Area's secure," Katherine finished incanting. "Etienne, your turn to get dinner."

"As you wish, Katherine. Accio rabbit!"

Another flash.

Darkness. Night. Partial moon in the distance. Horses tied to trees seem skittish.

"Hssst. Katherine, Edmund, wake up. Something's breached our wards."

"Another traveler?" asked Katherine, slipping her cloak around her shoulders.

"Possibly. The wards indicated five people, but no animals."

"Locals?" Edmund inquired.

"What would locals be doing traveling in the middle of the night?" Katherine responded. "Expect trouble."

"Good advice," came a gravely voice that just as quick turned into two hands around Edmund's throat and a mouth attached to his neck.

"Aaaarrgh!" he shouted for a moment, arching his back before another set of arms restrained him.

"Vampires!" Katherine shouted.

"Aaaarrrggghhh!!"

Katherine reached for her wand, brandishing it in front of her as she moved backwards to the horses who were in turn bucking from the nocturnal threat. She noticed from the limited light there were two vampires on each of her friends. Oh, Edmund… Etienne. But where was the….

"Boo, my lady," came a saccharine voice behind her.

She turned, a spell on her lip.

"You don't want to fight me," he gazed at her.

"Yes I do," she managed. What was that damnable spell to drive off vampires? Lumos? No…

"No you don't," he purred, his gaze never wavering.

"I… I…" she stammered.

"Come to me, lovely."

She stepped closer to him. He gently pushed her hand down with the wand in it.

"All will be well in a few moments, my lovely."

He stepped in front of her, his incisors lengthening.

He bit.

Another flash.

Darkness. Awareness. Others around.

"… but will she be able to help us, Marcus?"

"She is strong, Vassey. She will do as I command. As will the other two. It was my will that turned them."

"They must be of some nobility," said a new voice. "They are in much better shape than the half-starved peasants around here."

"Aye, I think the same," Marcus replied. "It will make her role easier to lure men away from their homes. Ah, you're awake, madam."

"Who are you? Where…"

"I am Marcus Aerilies, your master. I turned you and by right of conquest you are mine. As are your two companions."

"I'm a vampire?" nervous was her voice.

"Indeed."

"Why?"

"Three question," he stated.

"I don't understand."

"I give you leave to ask three questions and then it is time to learn your new role. There is much to do."

"Just command her, Marcus," whined a new voice.

"She is the first woman I've turned, Dominic. A little patience is called for." He turned back to an undead Katherine.

"Why was I turned and not killed outright?" Katherine said with determination.

"Ah, the ever elusive 'why', only there is a 'why' in this story. A pack of werewolves has our scent. The last full moon resulted in the destruction of five of the brethren here. We need to augment our strength to resist them and ultimately destroy them before they do us."

"How did you get through the wards?"

"Actually, I wasn't aware you had wards. You must have acquired them from a fairly simple wizard then. Or these living amulets we have that mask our undead signage actually do the trick on wards as well. We made a deal with a witch to gain these amulets, but apparently werewolves are not fooled by them during the full moon. Come now, you have one more question."

"Did you know I was a witch when you attacked?"

"…no… but I am still your master. You will do my bidding."

"I think not! Reducto! Diffindo!"

"Katherine?"

"Edmund, Etienne! Destroy these vampires! Now!"

Another flash.

Harry sucked in a deep breath and opened his eyes to find himself looking directly at present day Katherine.

"You _really_ shouldn't have done that." She punched him hard in the face.

The world went white.

o0o

Harry's vision brought him back to the hazy present.

His ears were still ringing as he blinked the blurriness out of his eyes. His mind was a void of numbness. His nose was a mess and the blood had run down to his chin.

He had watched Katherine Potter's memories, her _human_ memories.

He shook his head, black hair falling into his eyes. It was a lot to take in. He didn't want to anyway. Seeing Katherine as a human, oddly enough sparked a note inside of him that unwillingly made him see her as, well, humanized. It was not something that he could stomach, not given the present state of things; it gave him hesitance. And when one got right down to it, in a fight, when one hesitated it got them killed.

When his vision cleared, he watched as Katherine ripped away from him with a snarl knowing she too got caught in her memories as well.

The other two were staring at her as well, not quite sure what had just occurred and not quite sure what to do.

It was Edmund that went forward towards Katherine who was standing stock still, her back facing everyone, eyes skittering.

Etienne on the other hand had no qualms about coming forward and roughly backhanding a still reeling Harry sending him sprawling.

Harry rolled and shot to his feet ready, a stake in his hand and determination in his eyes.

But has it turns out, this was the moment Morgan decided to make her presence known.

She leaped down from her perch on the roof to the left of Harry landing in a crouch just beside him.

She straightened out and sent a sweet smile Etienne's way before lashing out quick as a snake and punching him squarely in the jaw.

Harry wasted no time.

Edmund headed straight for him so Harry headed for him meeting him halfway with a kick to the chest.

o0o

Morgan went up. The buildings were old and close together. Fire traps. Tenements. Easy to move from one to another. There were only a couple houses at the block corners, not in the direction she was heading.

"Looks like we got a runner, mates," said a voice roughly 20 feet from her as she made it to the rooftop.

"Kinda cute. Reckon she's a screamer?" said a second voice.

Oh good. Opposition.

"Oh, I'm sure she's a screamer. All girls are," replied the first voice with assurance.

Ah. Dumb opposition.

"Oh goodness me, what is ever to happen being around these two strong vampires," Morgan started, putting her bag down and reaching inside for some equalization tools.

"Five vampires, pretty lady. This won't take too long. Cormer, your turn."

"Right. One dead woman coming up."

A blond vampire roughly her own age when he died advanced on her. "Come here, pretty," he grinned, fang visible.

"Okay. Say, have you ever heard what kind of dinners vampires don't like?" she met he halfway.

He looked at her neck trying to figure which side looked more appealing. "No. What kind of dinner?" Ah, the right side. Definitely.

"A stake dinner," she quipped, ramming a stake into his dead heart. He didn't dust out but instead went down for the count for the last time.

"Oh crap, she's a…" started voice #1 but before he could finish it was dusted.

"Say it, say it," snarled Morgan, staking another vamp. Two left.

"Slayer?" offered a third voice who was looking to flee.

"Right in one," Morgan commended him right before flinging a stake into his back, dusting him as well.

"Please don't kill me," whimpered the final voice; a man in his early 20's when he was turned. Starting to bald, he wore a cap.

"Okay."

"Really?"

"No." Stab.

Morgan went back to the first vamp. Freshly turned, his skin and bones hadn't dried out yet. She reached in her bag and pulled out a vial of holy water and poured it on the body, then recited the Lord's prayer.

Finished, she moved to the alley where Ray had gone to.

o0o

Morgan had watched everything from the rooftops.

She figured the vampires should have spotted her by now but then again maybe they did and just didn't let her know they knew.

She shook her head; either way it was about time she joined the fight.

Not much of a fight going on in the first place. She noticed Ray was all caught up in the freaky mind crap with the female vampire and she really didn't want to jump down when that was going on. No use fighting one against two, well not that two against three was any better but she deduced it was a whole lot better to have Ray in the fight then just her.

Her eyes stared down at the scene below her. Intensity spiked. She was alert and she wasn't going to let anything slip by her. Blood pumped through her veins; excitement and adrenaline made her head buzz.

Just then the female let loose a snarl and stumbled away from Ray.

Alright she thought. Time to party.

She got up and jumped down the two story roof and landed beside Ray.

Morgan smiled at the vampire before her and lashed out. The thrill of satisfaction hummed in her as she hit him squarely in the jaw.

She didn't let the upper hand she had gained from charging forward lapse. The tall dude vampire took one on the chin, leaving the shorter vamp dude in the fight. The female was a little ways back.

Morgan pulled out an oak stake and attacked, a couple of swipes. Etienne smiled and pulled out a knife and parried her attack, blow for blow. He'd been in knife fights over the centuries. It was a fun activity, he recalled. Just before he feasted on the attacker. It certainly added a bit of spice to the blood. Seeing the stalemate, she pulled a second stake and knocked his knife away.

Etienne, enjoying himself, let his knife go and just as quickly punched her in the chest; she went flying back into a brick wall.

Harry jumped into the fray. He kicked Etienne back away from Morgan. She worked at getting the buzzing out of her head.

"Dayshadow," he greeted with a grin. Etienne pitted his gaze against Harry.

Harry pulled his wand. "Santo hydro!" he shouted.

Water sprayed from the wand tip, burning Etienne. Within seconds, the spray was finished.

"That the best you can do?" Etienne said, smoke hazing from his body, his concentration slipping to the point where he took on his classical vampire look. Canine mouth. Large bat-like ears. Hair receding. Large eyes. Your basic monster incarnate.

"I'll make sure to bring enough next time to finish the job." Harry knew this vamp had power to spare. That much holy water should have been like an acid bath, but here he was still kicking.

Etienne jumped the distance between them and started throwing punches. Harry parried with as much speed as he could muster.

Damn, this guy was fast. Yep, this wasn't his day.

Morgan, finally back to fighting form, reached for her steak. It was somewhere else in the alley. Dammit! What else did she have? What the? Mac?…

She grabbed the small weapon and a two by four and joined the fray.

Etienne's large clawed feet swung at Harry and missed as he jumped back out of the way.

"Yo, ugly!" Morgan demanded, swinging the beam against Etienne's back, snapping the wood, but doing what she hoped and getting his attention.

"Your turn is next, slayer," he hissed, turning towards her.

That was all she needed. With speed surprising even herself she punched Etienne directly in the mouth. Not a glancing punch on the side of the mouth, a blow that went into his large maw.

He gagged.

She punched him in the solar plexus and extracted her now empty hand before he started sucking in air.

He swiped at her and missed as she jumped back to her partner, Ray.

Etienne looked at them and hissed, his vampire features even more pronounced. "You are so dead, slayer!"

"I am? Do I get something to say before you kill me?"

"I won't help you."

"That remains to be seen," grinned Morgan. "Bite me, you big piece of crap."

Nothing happened other than Etienne coming closer. "And you kiss your parents with that mouth?"

Harry put his wand down. "I think what she meant to say was, 'Bite me, you bloody piece of crap!'"

"Heh, heh, that's the general idea. You and… what's goi… aaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!!"

The magnesium marble exploded inside the vampire, flash frying him from the inside out.

The two friends looked on appreciation of Mac's handiwork. He was such a good weapons-smith. If only he'd made three of them for them.

As one, they turned their attention from the burning mass of bones and ash to the two remaining vamps.

o0o

"Ah, the slayer," she purred looking the girl up and down. "So good of you to join us."

It was perturbing to see she didn't even flinch as her lifelong partner turned into a mass of wreaking, burning debris, bones, and ash.

Morgan sent her the same sweet smile. "Good to finally meet you as well," she replied.

"I assure you the pleasures all mine," Katherine smiled back before blurring into motion. Her hand snatched out and took hold of Morgan's, she yanked the arm pulling Morgan close and roughly head butted her. As Morgan let out a pained, surprised grunt from the contact, Katherine's other hand took hold of the back of her neck and pulling her down, kneed her in the face with enough force to send her sprawling on the cold cement ground.

Katherine didn't spare the slayer a second glance she moved forward and lashed out grabbing a hold of Harry's neck.

He let out a surprised choke. Merlin he didn't even see her move.

"Alright," she said voice like a poison. "I grow tired of this," she hissed at Harry. "I'll give you a choice and you better damn well make the right one." Her face was close to his, he could feel the cold radiating off her ancient skin.

The vice like grip around his throat left no room for argument. He could vaguely hear the sound of Morgan and Edmund fighting through the great rush of blood pounding in his ears.

He had both hands gripping Katherine's arm. He was really getting sick of this particular situation he kept finding himself in.

Having no choice at the present but to listen to what she had to say to him he gave a quick jerk of his assent.

"Good boy," she cooed loosening her deadly grip. "Now, I want you to leave Hogwarts. That is what I want you to do, but let's be honest shall we, and I can see in your eyes you're going to say no. So in light of this lovely little fact here's some incentive." She let go of him.

Harry stumbled back rubbing his throat and sending a wary glance at the vampire.

Katherine leaned her weight on one foot and examined her nails.

"We both know how much sway I have over all those idiots who call themselves vampires." She continued to examine her perfect fingernails. "So let's just say that if you were to leave Hogwarts and never go back." She glanced up then, coy and slight pucker to her lips. "That you along with every other vampire here never so much as touches the school."

She fell silent watching, waiting.

Harry blinked.

"That's bull," he stated letting out a dark chuckle.

Katherine raised an eyebrow at him.

But Harry was done with this he had heard enough. He took two steps and jumped at her. He caught her in her midriff and sent them both sprawling to the ground. Being that he had just grabbed the element of surprise he just as easily grabbed the upper hand.

He had her pinned underneath him and sent shot after powerfully shot to her face.

The force of his blows was enough to draw blood, which sent a wave of unadulterated satisfaction through his veins.

That satisfaction was short lived though. Katherine had brought up her leg and slipped it around Harry's head.

Harry felt that moment of surprise before the leg jerked him back and onto the ground.

Katherine slipped back onto her feet easily and kicked him harshly in the stomach send the breath from his lungs.

"I can and will raze that school to the ground, Dayshadow!" she hissed at him as he coughed sending another great kick to his stomach.

"Screw you!" Harry bit back. "You're not touching that school!"

Not Hogwarts. He wasn't going to trust her word on this. As soon as he left the school it would be open season. He couldn't do that.

"That's right," she laughed as Harry stood covering his stomach.

Harry just barely blocked the heavy punch she sent his way. He sent one her way but she blocked it just as easily.

"Do as we say and we won't," she growled at him but before she could continue Harry took a step forward and head butted her making them both take hasty steps away from each other.

Harry grabbed his head and groaned. Damn that hurt. That felt like head butting stone wall for Merlin's sake.

Katherine shook out her head and growled deep within her throat. When she looked back at him her eyes were tinted red.

"What makes you think I'm just going to trust you, huh?" Harry bit out at her as they circled each other. "I'm not playing into your games you blood sucking bitch."

They continued circling each other matching step for step.

"Oh you will, Harry Potter," she sneered at him then lunged.

What happened next would always be a haze of blurry moments to Harry. Katherine was a dangerous snake and she moved like one too. Harry was immediately put on the defence. And no matter how hard he fought back he couldn't get the upper hand. She knew his every move even before he knew it himself.

She broke through his defence sending a well-aimed blow to his left side, cracking three of his ribs.

The shock in that split second opened him up wider and she took advantage. A sharp blow bruised his kidneys, another his spine and another his diaphragm for good measure.

One solid blow right to his temple sent him reeling. His senses went fuzzy but he didn't have the time to get his ducks in a row just then for his attacker didn't let up for a second.

"The choice is yours, Dayshadow. Leave the school and never return and we in turn won't touch it. Of that you have my word," she whispered. "But stay and we will see it _destroyed._ And know this; if you so much as step one foot in that school we will know and this arrangement is void and Hogwarts is up for grabs."

Harry sent his elbow up and out and with luck it hit her squarely just above the cheekbone. It was enough to send her back and out of his face for a second.

But that second wasn't nearly long enough; she came back with roundhouse kick to his head. The heel of her shoe cutting deep along his cheek.

He hit the ground, his hands just barely catching his fall. Merlin he couldn't concentrate. His body couldn't keep up with the damage that was being inflicted upon it. He couldn't heal fast enough with all the damage she kept inflicting.

All that was running through his head was this choice he had to make. This _deal. _

Stay at Hogwarts and he would bring a war right to its front door step.

Leave Hogwarts and it would be safe.

About as safe as Katherine's word.

Either way neither looked like the better choice in his books and he didn't know what to do. One thing he did know for sure, the people at Hogwarts did not deserve to be pulled into his war he wouldn't do that and he wouldn't ask that.

He could feel blood rushing from his face. The cut on his cheek obviously worse then was he had originally thought.

He tried to move but as far as he got was moving his outstretched arm closer to himself.

The ringing of his ears was broken then. By something even worse.

It was a scream. A horrible, ear splitting scream that came from Morgan's mouth.

With great effort Harry got up on his hands and knees. He didn't get as far as he would have liked for when he got up, all his weight now on his knees, all his effort got him a knee right to his face.

o0o

"_Ray!" _Morgan yelled, voice cracking, as she struggled against the hold the vampire had on her.

She struggled and deep down she knew she was on the verge of panicking. She couldn't do anything, she was trapped and she knew and well, she did not like that feeling one bit.

Her ribs, being already cracked from a previous hit, made her breathing come in short gasps. It was not helping her near panic at the moment.

She watched as that bitch got another solid kick to Ray's face.

No, no, no, no!

She couldn't watch this she had to do something.

Struggling against the hold on her with new vigour, she finally managed to get a lucky hit on the disgusting guy. She threw her head back right when she had both feet off the ground leaving the vampire to momentarily hold her entire weight up. The back of her head hit his face was a distinct crunch. Out of more surprise than pain he let her go.

Not wasting a moment Morgan scrambled away, intent on getting to Ray.

She could still see him and he needed help, he was on the ground, twenty feet from her own position, Katherine standing over him back to Morgan.

It was perfect. Too perfect an opportunity to pass up in her wise opinion. As Morgan got to her feet she grabbed the stray stake not two feet from her.

She pushed all the pain coursing through her body to the back of her mind and starting running full out towards her target.

Five feet from Katherine Potter she leaped into the air.

Two feet from the vampire something went wrong.

She was ripped away in mid air and thrown backwards with and invisible force.

She had forgotten about the other.

Morgan hit the ground hard and rolled into it to stop most of the damage. She kept rolling until she was slowed down enough to stop. But when she did she wished she hadn't. She was dizzy and damn it, she hurt everywhere. Getting up on her hands and knees, she had to resist the urge to hurl.

God she couldn't focus. Damn Creepy Crow guy sure knew how to kick a girl's ass.

The sharp pain of someone grabbing her hair and ripping her head back brought her back to clarity.

Cold breath of the vampire ghosted her ear and sent painful prickles all over her broken body. The vampire was directly behind her again so she didn't have to see his despised face but what she could see was right in front of her. She wanted to close her eyes but she was stronger than that.

Katherine Potter had turned around, she had a deadly look in her fiery violet eyes but Morgan's eyes were glued to the equally broken form of Ray.

"Get up," she whispered hoarsely.

"Shhhhh." It was Edmund.

The whisper sent her mind on the brink.

Ray moved, only a little but it was enough.

Crystalline tears pooled into her eyes.

"_Ray! Get up_!" her voice betrayed her pleading she knew.

Morgan let out a grunt as Edmund pulled at her hair roughly sending her closer to his body behind her. A cold hand snaked around her throat, cutting off her voice box effectively.

The last thing she saw was a ghastly smile on Katherine's face before she turned back around and knelt next to the struggling form of Harry.

The last thing she felt was the piercing fangs digging into her neck.

Kelly Morgan _screamed._

o0o

Pain exploded all around him, wiring his senses to the point of no recognition.

"Be grateful," her sultry voice sang into his ears. Whispers of sweet nothings. The only thing he was able to focus on and he hated himself for it. "That we don't just kill you now!"

A vicious snap and he was sent sprawling ten feet across the barren desolate cracked pavement of the back alley.

His head hit the pavement hard and he saw stars for one brief glorious moment. He rolled onto his stomach and attempted to pull himself up. But to no avail. He was weak, drained. He rested his forehead on the cold cruel pavement in defeat. Gasping for breath, clouded eyes shut tight in a vain attempt to block out the pain.

'_There's nothing wrong with me!'_

His own voice danced in his head. It was said with such conviction that he almost believed himself for a moment. Almost.

'_I'm sorry.'_

"I'm giving you a choice, Harry Potter," that same voice sang, stabbing through the fog.

Blood dripped out from his lips as he let out a choking cough. Why was he fighting? Fighting for people that didn't care if he lived? After all he was a freak, looked at with fear and curiosity. So why was he protected them?

'_Thank you... for saving me.'_

This voice was not his own. His head was cloudy and muggy, he couldn't think straight. Images were running scattered through his vision.

The small red headed girl with a great power that both scared and enlightened her, sitting up in a crisp hospital bed... thanking him.

'_I owe you my thanks young man.'_

A flash of the redhead's mother played across his vision. He remembered the hug, the glistening gratitude in her eyes. He had saved her daughter and for that she could care less about what he was.

'_Take care kid.'_

The deep rumble of the old man's voice. The man with the hard cold face but kind eyes, gripping his shoulder and looked him in the eyes with concern. He didn't want to see him dead anytime soon.

'_I remember a boy walking into my classroom willing to give me a chance, least I can do is give that boy the same chance.'_

Sirius Black's face came into view, a brief flash but he still saw the man looking at him with so much sincerity that he smiled. Actually smiled.

He couldn't remember the last time he did that.

His fingers dug into the ground. Is this what it felt like to die? No... It couldn't be.

'_If you're going to do this... we do this together. Besides' she smiled that crooked grin of hers. 'You need the backup.' A playful punch to the shoulder made him grin._

Where was Morgan? He heard her scream. Was she dead?

He opened his eyes and stared trying his damnedest to focus on something, anything at that moment.

"It is your decision now, Dayshadow." Again that voice cut through all his senses. That power and beauty.

But he couldn't.

No, he wouldn't.

With a low growl that rumbled deep his from his chest, he pushed himself up onto his knees. He looked up at the entity that stood above him.

If anything, he was not a coward.

Her dark hair flowed freely in loose waves down your shoulders. That alluring smirk on her flawless features. She stared, stared right into his very soul.

With the strength he didn't think he possessed at that crunching moment, he forced himself to stand up and face her. Eye to eye.

So he stared right back into those deep violet eyes and he knew, even as he couldn't bear to rip his eyes away that she knew what his answer was going to be even before he voiced it himself.

"Alright," he said voice deep and cracked holding an almost defeated air to it, "we have a deal."

Katherine Potter's laughter pierced through the dead night. A laughter that could wake the dead and slaughter the living to insanity.

And Harry Potter knew he had played right into her hands again.

o0o

He fell hard on his knees stumbling as he reached her.

She was pale, really pale. Dark circles under her eyes, lips slightly blue. Gods she looked... she looked...

_No, no, no, no._

"Morgan?" it was a cracked whisper. He moved his hand forward with bated breath to check the pulse.

He hissed out loud when he noticed the ghastly bite mark there. Moving her head gently he pressed his fingers to the unmarked side of her neck.

Pause.

Harry didn't breath.

_There!_

It was faint and sporadic but her pulse was there.

A flutter of wings and a distinct clang to his left sent a new wave of adrenaline through his veins.

A crow had landed on the dumpster there.

It stared at him through glassy beady eyes. For a second Harry couldn't move. The thing shuffled its feet and let out a hair raising _caw._

That did it. Harry let out a shaky breath and without pause scooped up the slayer, stood up and turning into it, apparated away.

He landed in the middle of the parking lot. It was the parking lot of the local Hospital. Not the nicest looking of heath care facilities but it was going to have to do. He ran forward when he spotted the entrance.

Turning sideways to slip through the too slow automatic doors, he rushed into the main lobby were a few people sat in various chairs waiting.

"I need a Doctor!" he yelled when the receptionist didn't look up when he entered.

The lady looked up at his voice eyes widening at the sight of a bloody girl in the arms of an equally bloody boy.

The next few minutes rushed by with sounds and flurry of movements.

Questions were flying left right and centre. Before Harry knew it he was directed to lay Morgan on a gurney.

He set her down gently and was immediately pushed out of the way by the many white coats.

"Yes sir. A car hit us. We were running away from a dog."

Something unintelligible to him mixed with other questions. He focused on Morgan. They were working on her. Pulse, IV, drip lines.

"No sir. The car didn't stop to render aid. And my sister was bitten by the dog. A pit bull if I'm not mistaken. Yes sir, my ribs are pretty sore and it hurts to breathe now and then, but just look after my sister, okay."

They started to take her away.

Harry reached into his fanny pack and withdrew a vial. "Please, doctor, pour this vial into her bite marks on the neck."

"Son, we use sterile equipment here."

"I know that, sir. But it's holy water. We're religious and our beliefs are pretty strict. You can use all the methods you need to in order to save her, use as many antibiotics as you need even, but we require holy water sprinkling over any wound first, and if possible, could you recite the Lord's prayer? I'm sure she will hear it and be strengthened by it."

"I understand the importance of faith, son," replied the doctor, absently caressing his holy cross necklace. "I will make sure it gets done."

The last thing he saw was of her being rushed through the double doors to the ER surrounded by people.

The receptionist behind the counter and a doctor approached him.

They talked and asked more questions that Harry didn't remember. He answered on autopilot, refused to be treated and wouldn't go further than that. He needed to contact Mac.

The doctor had left and the receptionist lady was giving him an odd look. She told him to sit tight she needed to go grab some papers that he needed to fill out.

She turned her back for a second and when she turned back around he was gone.

o0o

I know I'm a horrible person. Don't worry though it shouldn't take that long for the next chappie.

Anyways please review! I love hearing your thoughts :)

Peace.


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